It Begins

Artist: Thunderboogie
Release Date: May 7, 2013
Label: Independent


"The journey from idea to reality."

Earlier this month, Thunderboogie let their second release, It Begins, loose. Clocking in a little over 20 minutes, each of the three tracks on It Begins displays a different aspect of what the group is capable of. Kicking the album off is "The Call" with an intense speech about risking our lives today for the future, traveling towards that time, and accepting the call. We then travel to a beautiful sanctuary while in-flight with "Quarky the Galaxy Bird." Then we safely land in the grooving grounds of "Geejam," the concluding track, that climbs musically through many different zones.

A neat aspect of this album is all you are hearing was, at one point, a live take. When recording these songs, Thunderboogie would play it from top to bottom without stopping to take the best cuts. Bassist Jake Downey said the fun in recording this was seeing "which jam told the best story for each of these songs." The chosen cuts for It Begins display these excellently. For a release with only 3 songs on it, you get more of a musical satisfaction then you would anticipate. You can partially thank the trumpet for that; it always adds such a distinct sound, especially when it is the only given horn in a group.

"The Call" opens It Begins. The 5 minute 26 second Middle Eastern influenced song simply drags you into this work. Justin DiLuiso, a long time friend of Downey delivers the thesis of It Begins altogether, compact into one eerie speech pushing the point that "for the future we must risk our lives. But when we get there, all shall be created." This song brings some of the most prominent funk on the album due to dominance of the rhythm section and the bass-in-your-face style of playing, a beautiful and recurring aspect of this album. When it boils down to horns, the given lines the trumpet delivers are a bit lackluster for the track. This, though, is due to the fact that in the recordings he is not nearly loud enough comparatively to the remainder of the band.

Do you ever find those songs that, even on the first listen, strike you in a certain place? A place very solemnly touched upon musically. For an indescribable reason, you feel an urge to give it another listen, and every time you do so there is a new feature flourishing in your ears. Personally, this is what I would have to describe "Quarky the Galaxy Bird" as. Every given aspect of the song delivers to its fullest potential. This beautiful tale tells us of Quarky and his journey from Earth to Outer Space. He begins this journey shortly after he realizes that he shouldn't fight the air with his wings, but that he must reach the height where he floats harmoniously like the clouds. Every time this beautiful ballad is played, the improvised segment of the song displays Quarky's journey from Earth.

Not long after we have begun this trip through music we escalate towards the finale, "Geejam." An (almost) instrumental that spends 9 minutes and 10 seconds on a musical journey that transitions from beautiful soaring dynamic areas, to the house of what seems to be a lesser experienced spawn of Page McConnell and Ray Manzarek with piano tickles galore, to a Jimi-influenced land where the four on the floor dance party the rhythm section is throwing gets coated by echoing guitar work and bulletproof trumpet accents. What better way to end a nice musical journey then with a beautiful vocal cadence repeating itself a couple times as the band slowly pulls the song to a halt?

Look at this album as a sandwich. There are a top and a bottom bun, and delicious contents in the middle. Without the essential buns, the structure that holds the sandwich together and makes it complete, it would be a mere single that had no conversational value. A bun-less burger. When all together though, you have the entirety of the meal, buns and all. The main focus of the sandwich may be on what is in the middle, yet it would not be nearly the same without the components that made it all one piece. That is how I look at It Begins. You can find serenity in "Quarky the Galaxy Bird," but that is not to say that "The Call" and "Geejam" aren't excellent pieces. They both collectively complete the work and make it what it is at this very moment.

- Woocci

7.25.2148

Artist: Makeup and Vanity Set
Release Date: March 28, 2013
Label: Telefuture Records


7.25.2148, the new EP from electronic duo Matthew Pusti and Christian Williams, is a conceptual record that musically describes a journey through space and the future. Filled with warm droning bass and rich synths, this album produces an enjoyable ambient vibe as well as some dance-able inflections. The rise and fall of each song creates a feeling that time has stopped, and each track appears much shorter than it really is. This helps suspend reality as the listener is transported through the final frontier.

As the opening track, “An Infinite Horizon” sets the tone of the album with a reverberated arpeggiation and background noise like that of an engine room. Immediately, one is thrust into a dream-like world of ambience and serenity. A subtle droning bass slowly replaces the background noise, and more atmospheric synthesizers drone in their upper registers. The song builds, and the continued arpeggiation holds a delicate beauty like the stars of space. Many subtleties may slip past as the song slides along without commanding any attention. This being said, in the realm of ambient music, it fits in perfectly.

Following this smooth ambient track is “Quadra IV,” which continues the concept of space exploration, but includes a driving drum beat and more synths with less warmth. The song is reminiscent of the arcade game Space Invaders in the feelings of urgency and danger as one tries to survive the perils of the universe. The track slowly progresses, and would maintain the ambient style were it not for the presence of drums. Like the rest of the album, the song maintains a nice burbling bass throughout.

Arguably the most interesting track on the EP is “Versions.” Opening with avant-garde like pinging sounds, the song grows to a whining synth and thick bass below it that gives a very spooky feeling. The song continues the dominantly ambient vibe of the EP, but with less musical sense and much more atmospheric tone. Rivalling this track is the closer, “Praxis.” Holding extremely different ideas, this track has some dancier house styles while still keeping in the sci-fi theme. The entire song is not as warm as the rest of the album, and uses much higher pitched synths and more rhythmic intricacies as well as melodic lines.

This EP holds true its conceptual ideas, and really depicts futuristic space travel in all of its eerie beauty. The overall warm droning and constantly rumbling bass comes off boring on a surface level, but the detail and progression comes through upon closer inspection. The inclusion of some good ambience and danceable beats provide for enjoyable listen either in the background or with closer inspection.

-Peter Fickenwirth

Epigram / Microgram (CZ)

Artist: Leo Chadburn

Release Date: April 2, 2013

Label: Library of Nothing

Epigram / Microgram (CZ) is an exploration by Leo Chadburn (better known by pseudonym Simon Bookish) into the capabilities of the CZ-101, a modest little Casio synthesizer that can be found online for about $200. Each song is based on a melodic experiment and fleshed out through the use of the CZ-101, which is the only sound source used. Because of this approach, Epigram / Microgram (CZ) has a pleasant feeling of experimentation for the sake of experimentation; not every track is outstanding, but a sense of wonderment and joyful discovery permeates each sonic expedition.

Due to the nature of its writing, the majority of Epigram / Microgram (CZ) is shapeless. The ideas at work are almost entirely melodic and harmonic, and rhythmic precision is often abandoned entirely. A formula that’s used throughout is one synth voice playing a theme while others will either play in a completely different tempo, or create a background of clicks, pops, and buzzes. Unfortunately this form can become predictable and a little stale, but one thing these songs excel at is creating a vivid setting in the listener’s head. “Intercontinental” starts with a rapidly shaking atonal noise that fades into the background, sometimes disappearing entirely, only to return in a subtly different form. It evokes a feeling like drifting just outside the atmosphere of a lush planet, with the occasional company of a satellite that is buzzing through orbit.

The only track that doesn’t dabble in slow-moving ambience is the stellar “Difficult (Let’s Go Off the Cliff),” which sounds like it’s trying to defy the rest of the album as aggressively as possible. Driving bass synths growl and roar like beasts locked in combat, juxtaposed against delicate waves of music-box impersonation. It’s a standout on the album; it’s jarring, soothing, claustrophobic, and airy all at once.

Overall, Epigram / Microgram (CZ) sounds exactly like what it is; a collection of experiments that are about the question more than they are about the answer. Nearly every track has standout moments, but it seems like these are happy coincidences as a result of exploring a musical concept as thoroughly as possible. That’s not to say the album is bad by any means; it’s an extremely pleasant listen, and the overall feeling of experimenting and fiddling is simply fun. Epigram / Microgram (CZ) is a good album to play as background ambience while working. It’s unobtrusive and atmospheric, while inspiring listeners to buckle down and use their brains to do incredible things and explore the ideas they haven’t even thought of yet.

-Alex D'Alfonso

Slow Weather

Artist: Tomotsugu Nakamura
Release Date: March 13, 2013
Label: kaico

Slow Weather is mesmerizing; a perfect combination of Brian Eno's lush textures and The Books' masterful sampling. Tomotsugu Nakamura spent 3 years crafting the subtle nature of this album. This hard work can be heard from the start of the album. The opening track “Moccasin” feels like waves of gentle warmth passing by. It's abstract form and flowing nature creates an ethereal experience; close your eyes and you could be floating. This album envelopes me in a daze, as if fog had smothered my brain.  While having a distinctively digital sound these songs also sound uniquely tender and comforting. Highlighted by tracks like “In The Place Before The Breath” or “Contrail”.

Using a combination of guitar, piano, strings, and gentle synthesizers Nakamura brings the listener into his heavenly aural landscape. Not only are traditional instruments used but glitches, clicks, pops, and field recordings appear commonly throughout the album as well. Ambient synths wave hello and goodbye as they shyly appear and dissipate from track to track. Heavy reverb, backwards recordings, and glitchy sample placement create an airy atmosphere as sounds skitter across tracks. “Little Colors” emphasizes this effect, combining droning strings and synths with toy piano samples creating melodies out of these separate samples.

At some points it is quite hard to tell what's being played in real time and what has been sampled and re-sampled. I couldn't be bother to let the idea travel through my head for more than 5 seconds though. I can't be bothered to think about much when listening to this album. Slow Weather is as entrancing as it is awe-inspiring.

-Owen Bolas