Greg Davis, The Factory Incident, and Abe Duque
The new full-length by American electronic music
artist GREG DAVIS contains six beautiful minimal drone soundtracks
perfect for lucid daydreaming or semi-conscious sleepwalks. Somnia,
DAVIS’ debut for Kranky, is a departure
from his more lyrical, guitar-based indie-tronica of years
past but continues to showcase his soft touch and
overall appreciation for ambient music.
The opening track, “Archer,” sets the tone in a
dramatic way and grabs the listener’s attention with
its shimmering layers of celestial tones that are at
once beautiful and arresting. The track’s slightly
tense mood eventually gives way to the sheer
loveliness of “Clouds As Edges” and “Diaphanous,”
which in turn slips into the delightfully atmospheric “Campestral” — a calming track that clears the listener’s mind of all thought.
DAVIS has found a way of training ears and glazing
eyes on Somnia. The sounds he creates emulate church
organ or harmonium drones, but according to the liner
notes, DAVIS prefers to utilize more unconventional instrumentation — such as a punch card music box, toy harmonica, toy piano, and
computer. Indeed, some of the drones sound slightly processed and
contain the occasional digital ripple or bubble, but the overall
effect is quite organic.
Unlike some practitioners of hypnotic minimalism,
DAVIS seems to know the limits of each of his
compositions, and tailors their length accordingly.
Although, as much as I appreciate his restraint, I
know I personally could trance out to some of the
tracks — “Campestral” in particular — all day long.
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Washington D.C.’s THE FACTORY INCIDENT, which includes
John (Stabb) Schroeder of Government Issue fame on
vocals, wisely chose the fabled Inner Ear Studios and ex-Jawbox front
man and producer J. Robbins as the creative combination in which to
craft its first full-length recording.
A year in the making, Redtape — released on the
Postfact label — reveals
a shimmering, atmospheric pop sound more akin to early
80s new wave or early 90s shoegaze than the
aggro-political punk of the band’s benefactors.
After plugging away at the capital city’s music scene
for the last five years or so and searching for a
sound all their own, this quintet can safely boast
that its tight, punchy rock and roll has been
perfected as captured on their newest release. Songs
like “Said and Won” and “Rail” rain down a storm of
guitars and a flurry of drumfills, which propel the
group’s melancholy melodies forward with an impressive
show of strength.
The band’s performance on Redtape is tight and its
skillful string interplay striking, but perhaps
equally as striking is Schroeder’s dramatic singing
style. While his vocals are somewhat fragile and
slightly frantic, they’re also strangely effective in suggesting a
vulnerable side to this five-piece power pop unit.
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So Underground It Hurts is the new full-length by
NYC techno producer, DJ, and label-boss ABE DUQUE.
Despite having released an endless stream of
recordings on independent labels all over the world
and having founded his own labels Tension and Rancho
Relaxo — the latter of which derived from his
legendary Limelight party of the same name — DUQUE’s influence is
often overlooked or overshadowed by his contemporaries and
compatriots.
While released on the Munich-based International DJ
Gigolos label, the
tracks on “It Hurts” are mostly compiled from the
first seven singles released on his newest namesake
label Abe Duque Records. The tracks consist mostly of pounding rhythms
and random synth sweeps, but Duque adds a smattering of breathy, sexy
samples throughout to help induce more of a drenching dancefloor
sweat.
While DUQUE’s music bumps and grinds the right way,
his take on techno is perhaps too simplistic and
traditional sounding for appreciation outside of a
nightclub. His safe, sample-based production style
points the listener in directions that countless other producers have
taken since the dawn of four-four club music, and fails to leave much
of a lasting impression.
—John Rickman
