S.ink - Time and Timing
(Poeta Negra)
Further reminders of the 21st century—small Greek labels (in this case Poeta Negra) releasing improv and electro sets that come with PR just as professionally slick as everything else you'll find and/or be swamped under. But their cover letters are shorter than most and that's a good thing.
Decades is a side project by one DJ Pica, of whom I know nothing, but apparently he rocks the Thessaloniki scene and all that. The PR in this case disingenuously says said disc 'surpasses the electroclash hype' and then proceeds to refer to Miss Kitten and the Hacker later on, so suspicions raised, onward. It's definitely part of the whole return to the early eighties style which personally works for me at least; if you're otherwise allergic, steer clear. The combination of sprinkly sprightly melodies and purring bass lopes actually does sound very much of its current time, though—the best of what has been revived honestly doesn't really sound like it could have been made back then, in the end. There's something all the more precise and detailed about it, a combination of distance from the era and more technical options available with home and studio recording perhaps, or just a greater dynamic range in mastering for CD even. "Aphrodite Star" and "How Does This Sound" are definite highlights, while "Priority" takes a gentler spin through things that could be more Jean-Michael Jarre in the end than anything else. Meanwhile, the occasional vocal appearance from one Kiki adds the right sort of Ladytron-styled coolness to the affair, as the likes of "Little Angel" and "Poky Space" show. While the more well-known names in America and Europe won't feel threatened by the end results, The First nestles alongside them enjoyably enough. Best song title of the bunch: "Post Sincerity."
S.ink, meanwhile, look back to a more recent time: Post rock never died, it just transmogrified a bit, and all the influences that went into it—yer drone, yer Kraut, yer this and that—end up well enough on Time and Timing. Basically it's manna from heaven from those who liked their music in that sphere to be dark and moody without being overly concerned about creating 'art.' While there's enough hints of Tortoise's lingering appeal to be a cause for worry, there's also dollops of Mick Harris and Main as well, but gentler contemplations rule the day here, suggesting dank depths without beating a listener's head to bits with the fact. "Freq's House" relies most on a steady pace and softly echoed guitar to set a sweetly meditative mood, while that plus piano makes "Sink" even better, a blend of slow building beauty from the individual members that rises to a dramatic peak without turning into hyperbombast. The use of buried vocal samples on "As Is" perhaps inevitably recalls Mogwai, but as with "Sink" S.ink avoid rocking out in favor of understated ratcheting up, not so much tension as it is suggesting a mood and running with it. Like Decades, it might not challenge perceptions but there are worse efforts in the field out there.
|
