ALBUMS OF 2008
1. The Flashbulb
Soundtrack To A Vacant Life
Word has it that Benn Jordan (the man behind The Bulb) is so fed up with the music industry that he’s actively encouraging his audience to download his music and leave a donation on his website if they like it. Unfortunately for Jordan, he’s making a wild assumption that society is cleaner and more ethical than the record labels, distributors and shops that he finds so cumbersome to deal with. Considering the amount of illegal downloading going on, it seems a tad naive to imagine that he might earn any more money via this route than the paltry royalties he gets from retailers, or that anyone is likely to be sympathetic - deserved or not.
Hopefully, however, Jordan could soon be hitting a financial marker via a completely different source of exposure. It’s hard to know whether Soundtrack To A Vacant Life is deliberately scaffolded to appeal to documentaries, adverts and other forms of incidental music, but it sure seems that way. The album contains 31 tracks, of which only 4 last more than 3 minutes - it’s almost a walking audio advert for television executives. Cohesive it is not – had Jordan wanted to make an album that flows he would have collated this mass of splintered ideas and hacked it down to the best 16 tracks, the fact that he hasn’t screams ulterior motive.However, whatever the motive, the fact is it’s good to see Jordan move away from the highly technical programming of his previous work. That’s not to say there was anything wrong with recent Flashbulb albums such as Kirlian Selections (2005), Reunion (2005) and Flexing Habitual (2006), on the contrary – there’s some excellent progressive electronic IDM to be found, but Soundtrack To A Vacant Life is much more expansive. This album pulls at the emotions more than any other album Jordan has created, and that’s largely due to his willingness to incorporate acoustic instruments such as piano, guitars and drums.
There’s so many lovely little tracks on this album, full of pure melody, with copious ideas and a welcome variance of styles – it’s more like a sketchpad than an album.
There is little point trawling through Soundtrack To A Vacant Life and marking out which tracks make worthy listening amongst the morass – everyone will have their own, but what I would say is that it’s a hugely enjoyable organic electronic record, and, perhaps more saliently, fully realises Jordan’s talent like never before. More please.
2. Squarepusher
Just A Souvenir
Squarepusher appeared to have thawed a little following the release of Hello Everything two years ago – a playful album of infectious electronica that still remained true to Tom Jenkinson’s experimental principles.Just a Souvenir, finds its creator in equally mischievous mood; even though this album is undoubtedly the biggest sideways shift we have seen throughout his 12-year career. Nothing featured wholly relates to the brain-crunching drill’n’bass resident on any number of his twelve albums to date, neither does it feature those introspective musique concrète acid jazz instrumentals that would both fascinate and infuriate in equal measure.
Instead, we find Jenkinson picking up that bass guitar he has so often threatened to run riot with and build a concept album around it based on a bizarre daydream he once had.The result? Squarepusher at his best, pushing, prodding and bending the boundaries with frightening vigour and thought-provoking frivolity. A funk rock album that camouflages its heavy-duty programming, you’ll find yourself confounded by the way Jenkison mutates organic instruments to create bewildering new angles. In the end, you won’t know the difference between a bassline, a drum break and a guitar chord, which is why Jenkinson is so vital and, more than ever, funking good fun to listen to.
3. Bochum Welt R.O.B.
(Robotic Operating Buddy)
Gianluigi Di Costanzo is the man behind the Bochum Welt moniker; the Milan-based electro/techno composer released initial recordings in 1994 and was subsequently signed to Richrd D. James Rephlex label. Costanzo also has his own Kromode label.Other projects undertaken by the musician include collaborations with Thomas Dolby’s California-based Beatnik and Headspace Inc. companies amidst periodic audio assignments for the likes of Vodafone, Nokia and Apple, amongst others.
Listening to this double CD, it’s easy to see why Costanzo is so well-received by the above-mentioned brands, his trademark post-rave experimental electronica is evidently not aimed at the dancefloor, rather cultivated from a fascination of spacious atmospherics and melody, as much in keeping with today’s modern electronic producers as eighties synth pop influences like The Human League and to a lesser extent, Kraftwerk.
The first disc showcases new tracks and remixes. The gristly, fast-paced opener, Flag, is not particularly indicative of what’s to follow, Costanzo instead seduces on the highly melodic precision of Saint (Dmix), the ethereal ambience of 8221SB, and the moody gut punch of Interlude (Extended)– his ear for a good tune is unquestionable, it’s usually what separates Bochum Welt from the quagmire.
Bizarrely, mixing and production are not Costanzo’s strong points, so many of these instrumentals sound hurried and rough around the edges, yet unpolished jewels are still jewels. The second disc, brimful of rare back catalogue tracks, in resplendent WAV quality, hardly differentiate themselves from Costanzo’s newer material, but are no less enchanting. 20 tracks in total flutter between Apex Twin acid ambience and YMO slumber – moulded and pruned from the perspective that video game music and electronic pop are only ever divisible by a sequencer and couple of effects units.
Tracks such as Puck, Asteroids Over Berlin, Hug Me Tight, Fortune Green, That’s Mutuality and the simply magical Radiopropulsive will have you yearning for the repeat button. However, everyone will have their own favourites, and Constanzo doesn’t always hit the mark, but his childlike approach to making music is so enthusiastic and alluring, that overall, R.O.B. (Robotic Operating Buddy) is pretty much a no-brainer for the quintessential electronic music lover.
6. Yo Majesty Futuristically Speaking, Never Be Afraid
8. Benge Twenty Systems
11. Hans Joachim Roedelius & Tim Story - Inlandish
12. Milosh - iii
13. Grace Jones - Hurricane
14. Harold Budd & Clive Wright - A Song For Lost Blossoms
15. Alec Empire - The Golden Foretaste Of Heaven
16. Carl Craig - Sessions
17. David Byrne & Brian Eno - Everything That Happens Will Happen Today
18. Shapeshifter - Soulstice
19. Meat Beat Manifesto - Autoimmune
20. Gary Numan/Tubeway Army- Replicas Redux
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