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~~MicShazam~~ · 10-18-2018, 11:46 AM

Abstractions II: The Antagonist
by Trouble Salad.
or Salad Trouble (?).

Actually by Mondo Bungoloid.

1. Speedboat Road
It's got some changing beats and noise and... I don't know. I've listened to this thing 2-3 times and it slides right off my brain like oil off a ducks back.

It's kinda Mondo doing the usual in most ways. Or at least that's what I feel like I'm getting from it.

2. Blood on the Factory Floor
It really feels like the somewhat subtly mixed bass is what drives the track. At least that's where I find my attention landing for much of this one.

Basically, whenever it's not going into noise manipulation territory, it's pretty cool. It's got some hooks, even if they are sort of subdued.

3. The Mind Room
Again, it's kind of in the lower end of the spectrum that the hooks are happening. Some nice percussion through most of this track. Generally use of bass and percussion is A+ here, all the way through. 2:30 ish there's some neat atmosphere being built. Maybe a bit weird with those jungle monkey sounds uhh... yeah.
This track will make you feel like Tarzan tripping through the jungle.

Also, sudden jazz!

It's actually kinda cool how the track slides from something pretty sinister to something so laid back and smooth.

4. Snowed In/Shovel Innovation
And ode to the genius invention that is the shovel. Starts out with some cools sounds I don't wanna describe and then launches into a beat that makes you feel like a 70's cop movie cop, but in the future. Later, it sounds like takeoff! And somehow my sci-fi vibes were interrupted in the middle of a built up by some sleazy funk. And then, and then, and then... ahh never mind, it's all over the place. But pretty entertaining and all parts sound great. Doesn't really allow you to get bored.

I was a bit too fast there. The long low key segment later in the track is seriously nice. I suppose that's the "Shovel Innovation" half.

5. Mahound
I really wanted the guitar samples to play some variants instead of just looping, but oh well. For the first part of this track, a looping bassline forms much of the basis, but it's a 16 minute track, so of course a lot of stuff happens. The thing I take from this first and foremost, is how there's a lot of sonic variety, and I mean a lot.

But maybe this is where I go into an overall view of the album. Basically, while there are loads of cool sounding parts, I couldn't help but miss some more coherent structures. You can slice these 5 tracks up in a number of ways, for more or fewer tracks, and it won't feel any more/less logical. If there's no musical theme or progression carried over between segments, then what really ties them together? (except if a prior segment comes back again, of course).

That's a question of how you approach your music, but personally, that's what I'd really love to see next from Mondo: An album where each track has an identifiable musical idea that guides it, rather than a bunch of separate, cool sounding bits glued together to form a barely- or semi-coherent whole.

But this album goes to great lengths to explore various sounds and samples and touches upon countless musical styles. That's an achievement in itself, but there's a bunch of memorable segments scattered throughout to boot, so I'd say this album is pretty well done overall.

10-18-2018, 11:46 AM	#875 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,636	Abstractions II: The Antagonist by Trouble Salad. or Salad Trouble (?). Actually by Mondo Bungoloid. 1. Speedboat Road It's got some changing beats and noise and... I don't know. I've listened to this thing 2-3 times and it slides right off my brain like oil off a ducks back. It's kinda Mondo doing the usual in most ways. Or at least that's what I feel like I'm getting from it. 2. Blood on the Factory Floor It really feels like the somewhat subtly mixed bass is what drives the track. At least that's where I find my attention landing for much of this one. Basically, whenever it's not going into noise manipulation territory, it's pretty cool. It's got some hooks, even if they are sort of subdued. 3. The Mind Room Again, it's kind of in the lower end of the spectrum that the hooks are happening. Some nice percussion through most of this track. Generally use of bass and percussion is A+ here, all the way through. 2:30 ish there's some neat atmosphere being built. Maybe a bit weird with those jungle monkey sounds uhh... yeah. This track will make you feel like Tarzan tripping through the jungle. Also, sudden jazz! It's actually kinda cool how the track slides from something pretty sinister to something so laid back and smooth. 4. Snowed In/Shovel Innovation And ode to the genius invention that is the shovel. Starts out with some cools sounds I don't wanna describe and then launches into a beat that makes you feel like a 70's cop movie cop, but in the future. Later, it sounds like takeoff! And somehow my sci-fi vibes were interrupted in the middle of a built up by some sleazy funk. And then, and then, and then... ahh never mind, it's all over the place. But pretty entertaining and all parts sound great. Doesn't really allow you to get bored. I was a bit too fast there. The long low key segment later in the track is seriously nice. I suppose that's the "Shovel Innovation" half. 5. Mahound I really wanted the guitar samples to play some variants instead of just looping, but oh well. For the first part of this track, a looping bassline forms much of the basis, but it's a 16 minute track, so of course a lot of stuff happens. The thing I take from this first and foremost, is how there's a lot of sonic variety, and I mean a lot. But maybe this is where I go into an overall view of the album. Basically, while there are loads of cool sounding parts, I couldn't help but miss some more coherent structures. You can slice these 5 tracks up in a number of ways, for more or fewer tracks, and it won't feel any more/less logical. If there's no musical theme or progression carried over between segments, then what really ties them together? (except if a prior segment comes back again, of course). That's a question of how you approach your music, but personally, that's what I'd really love to see next from Mondo: An album where each track has an identifiable musical idea that guides it, rather than a bunch of separate, cool sounding bits glued together to form a barely- or semi-coherent whole. But this album goes to great lengths to explore various sounds and samples and touches upon countless musical styles. That's an achievement in itself, but there's a bunch of memorable segments scattered throughout to boot, so I'd say this album is pretty well done overall.