 |
|
Solvent, "Apples & Synthesizers"
Jason Amm wants me to believe that there is some heart to be found left behind in the 1980s and that it can be transformed and shaped into a potent stew of consistent and modern excellence. I don't believe him entirely. There's plenty of good music to be found on Amm's latest; a few tracks stand head and shoulders above the rest, though, and this makes it an uneven album. The bad that comes with the good is annoyingly bad. The worst tracks are a reminder of how stale and mechanical music can be.
Paradoxically, the same mechanical processes that make certain tracks dull and lifeless are responsible for making others irresistibly addictive. The first three songs are steeped in the shimmer and cleanliness of trumpet-like keyboards and rumbling bass lines that stutter along like the white lines on a highway. "Operating Ease" and "My Radio" are catchy and they stand the test of repeated listens without fail. Unfortunately the next five and a half minutes suck all the vigor and propulsion right out of what the previous two songs had worked so hard to cultivate. It isn't until the darkly attractive "Think Like Us" kicks in that the album retains any amount of momentum. The grey area in between is a bit too sterile to be worthwhile and when a track such as "Think Like Us" kicks in; it only emphasizes the failings of other, lesser tracks on the album. "Remote Control" and "Instrucograph" just sound like variations on a theme and they take away from the massive piles of funk and groove that are built up and let go of far too quickly. The amorphous "Science with Synthesizers" is the next song on Apples & Synthesizers to evoke any real sense of awe or wonder once "Think Like Us" has ended, but it's the closer that truly comes as a knockout. "Steve Strange" echoes and buzzes steadily under the sirens of various keyboards and interrupting rhythmic textures and does so with no lack of tension. Various synthesizers reverberate and bounce off each other into a myriad of patterns and melodies that make the flat parts of this record seem like bad dreams. I'm a sucker for a good melody, so when Solvent successfully lays out a great song, I'm as hooked as I can be by his songs. The filler material, however, leaves a lot to be desired and at times it simply kills the evocative aura that the great songs produce. 
