A.M.P. Studio - At the Alien Registration Office
(Ochre)
A.M.P. Studio is, of course, the solo project of Richard from AMP. And while the
latest AMP releases have focused more on straightforward pop songs, A.M.P. Studio
maintains the more experimental/droney side of AMP.
The album begins with "Blow-Up" which is fairly characteristic of the rest of the
album. It begins with a heavy, swirling analogue synth sound that is added upon with
other knob twiddling sounds. Eventually it builds to a distant, electronic beat.
Many of the other songs follow a similar structure with excellent result, however,
the stand out track for me is "231 Gates Round", which features a low synth drone
which is complimented by a simple piano theme over the top. This track trades some of
the drama of the build up for beats that serve a simple, warm presence, which nearly had me
asleep by the end.
It was a surprise to me to hear a bit of a tribal theme in some of the tracks on the
record such as "Birdblues" and "32 Paths Virtually." Also present is a bit of an
Indian/Southeast Asian feel with some of the keyboard parts. Particularly in "32
Paths Virtually," the keyboards seem to bend and twist much like a sitar or maybe even
a koto.
With all of the positives present in this A.M.P. Studio release, I still find myself
favoring the AMP releases. However, in spite of my preference for AMP, I still look
forward to further experimentation in A.M.P. Studio releases which are not only
interesting experiments in themselves, but help to inform the (possibly) more fully
realized projects of AMP.
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