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~~MicShazam~~ · 07-24-2017, 03:27 AM

And now, for a very belated forum member album review:

Trouble Salad(Mondo Bungle) - New Age Satellites

Album link: https://troublesalad.bandcamp.com/al...age-satellites

8 tracks, ~47 minutes of music.

I've listened to several of Mondo Bungle's albums over the last couple years and it's usually some pretty spooky sounding material with a lot of sound manipulation and noise. I'm more of a structured songs guy, so I was hopeful about this album, since Mondo himself assured me it was going to be a bit more my speed.

This album has plenty of an electronic music vibe going on, with beats and synthesizer lines. There is still an amount of droning noise and stretches of sample layering going on, so it still feels very much like what I would expect from the artist in question. Something old, something new. A pretty interesting progression. Contrast the end of track two with much of track 3, for example, and I feel like you've got a pretty good outline of what I've heard from Mondo Bungle before, and what this album has to offer in contrast.

As to what kind of electronic music, we're talking more a mix of 90's dance music and Kraftwerk than Apex Twin or Skrillex. I'm getting all manner of associations, but I'm not well versed enough in electronic music myself to really come up with much in the way of stylistic comparisons. I listen to Depeche Mode, but I can't keep comparing everyone to that band.

Our old friend, the voice sample, also makes it's appearance all over this album. It all sounds like clips from movies, but I don't recognize any of them.

There's good sonic variation across the album. There's a sort of Netherland nighclub trance vibe going on on track 3, "Being an Apparatus", along with what probably isn't record scratches, but sounds a lot like it.

I'm not going to talk about every track one by one this time, so I'll just throw around some scattered observations:

Track 4, "Please, Remember", has something really interesting going on at the 4 minute mark and onwards. Those are some seriously clashing rhythms, but it's interesting.

Track 5, "Thought Manifestation" gets really badass from 1:42 and onwards. Sounds like I should be playing System Shock while listening to this! Some pretty interesting lead melodies come in after a while. Also interesting about this track is how it goes completely nuts at the 4:11 mark. Ear rape!

Track 6, "Hired Sanity has a pretty chill beat sometimes".

Track 7, "Strange Beacon" neat bassline. Really! There's some pretty good thing going on in this track. Very good layering of sounds, but it does end pretty abruptly. Track 8 also some basslines going on with the same instrument, by the way. That track is significantly more loaded up on the voice samples and such, though.

Overall, I think this is some pretty damn well produced music. The sound quality is through the roof and there's a lot of variation and dynamic song structures. Those circa 47 minutes do not feel like a drag. It's hard for me to name any particular favorite tracks, due to their somewhat scatterbrained structures and thematic incohesion (something I feel is entirely intentional and simply a result of the style of music), but several tracks did have really good parts. Most of them, really. Track 5 (see above) probably had the coolest sections. The part around 2:05 or so in track 2 also deserves special mention.

Rating: 7/10 - Which, in my book, is good. If I feel like someone has the potential do do significantly better, I don't want to set the score too high. A 7 out of ten is solid, but leaves good room for growth. Maybe we'll see some more curveballs from Mr. Bungle in the future?

07-24-2017, 03:27 AM	#826 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,636	And now, for a very belated forum member album review: Trouble Salad(Mondo Bungle) - New Age Satellites Album link: https://troublesalad.bandcamp.com/al...age-satellites 8 tracks, ~47 minutes of music. I've listened to several of Mondo Bungle's albums over the last couple years and it's usually some pretty spooky sounding material with a lot of sound manipulation and noise. I'm more of a structured songs guy, so I was hopeful about this album, since Mondo himself assured me it was going to be a bit more my speed. This album has plenty of an electronic music vibe going on, with beats and synthesizer lines. There is still an amount of droning noise and stretches of sample layering going on, so it still feels very much like what I would expect from the artist in question. Something old, something new. A pretty interesting progression. Contrast the end of track two with much of track 3, for example, and I feel like you've got a pretty good outline of what I've heard from Mondo Bungle before, and what this album has to offer in contrast. As to what kind of electronic music, we're talking more a mix of 90's dance music and Kraftwerk than Apex Twin or Skrillex. I'm getting all manner of associations, but I'm not well versed enough in electronic music myself to really come up with much in the way of stylistic comparisons. I listen to Depeche Mode, but I can't keep comparing everyone to that band. Our old friend, the voice sample, also makes it's appearance all over this album. It all sounds like clips from movies, but I don't recognize any of them. There's good sonic variation across the album. There's a sort of Netherland nighclub trance vibe going on on track 3, "Being an Apparatus", along with what probably isn't record scratches, but sounds a lot like it. I'm not going to talk about every track one by one this time, so I'll just throw around some scattered observations: Track 4, "Please, Remember", has something really interesting going on at the 4 minute mark and onwards. Those are some seriously clashing rhythms, but it's interesting. Track 5, "Thought Manifestation" gets really badass from 1:42 and onwards. Sounds like I should be playing System Shock while listening to this! Some pretty interesting lead melodies come in after a while. Also interesting about this track is how it goes completely nuts at the 4:11 mark. Ear rape! Track 6, "Hired Sanity has a pretty chill beat sometimes". Track 7, "Strange Beacon" neat bassline. Really! There's some pretty good thing going on in this track. Very good layering of sounds, but it does end pretty abruptly. Track 8 also some basslines going on with the same instrument, by the way. That track is significantly more loaded up on the voice samples and such, though. Overall, I think this is some pretty damn well produced music. The sound quality is through the roof and there's a lot of variation and dynamic song structures. Those circa 47 minutes do not feel like a drag. It's hard for me to name any particular favorite tracks, due to their somewhat scatterbrained structures and thematic incohesion (something I feel is entirely intentional and simply a result of the style of music), but several tracks did have really good parts. Most of them, really. Track 5 (see above) probably had the coolest sections. The part around 2:05 or so in track 2 also deserves special mention. Rating: 7/10 - Which, in my book, is good. If I feel like someone has the potential do do significantly better, I don't want to set the score too high. A 7 out of ten is solid, but leaves good room for growth. Maybe we'll see some more curveballs from Mr. Bungle in the future? Last edited by MicShazam; 07-24-2017 at 03:42 AM.