A lot of times, when listening to albums of a particular style I'm not familiar with that is more or less "new to me", I'm concerned that I've missed the point upon first listen. With this album, if not just concerened that I've missed part of the intended effect, I'm slightly concerned that I've missed some of the nuances in the bass; my headphones did not seem very receptive to the album, unfortunately.
The first minute and a half was almost unlistenable, initially. I started the album, and then decided it was not the time to devote nearly an hour to the work in its entirety; I wasn't ready for it yet.
Finally, I opted for an empty house, a dark room, a set of headphones, and very intent listening. What I found surprised me. While the use of electronic sounds, painstakingly patched together to create the music itself, seemed initially completely cold, detached, and to steal a word from previous opinions on the album, "sterile", as the album progressed, it felt a lot less frigid than initially believed.
It doesn't seem so much created to evoke any strong emotion in the listener per say, but it is superb mood music. Not that the mood it seems to cause the listener to be overcome by is particularly happy or comfortable, but it is very effective at inducing a particularly uncomfortable, uneasy mood: Something's happening.
At times, it seems to project images of ravers, dancing, slack-jawed, and zombie eyed dancing amidst chrome machinery as far as the eye can see. (See Module 7) At others, it feels alarmingly like R2D2's wet dream. (See Module 3) Overall, however, it's a superb show of editing skill, supremely interesting, and something I definitely crave listening to again...with better headphones, of course.
Nice recommended album, Janszoon.
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It's a hand-me-down, the thoughts are broken
Perhaps they're better left unsung
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