Electric VoyeurThis delightful end-of-year surprise is the culmination of a decade-long project in which Colleen Kinsella and Caleb Mulkerin devoted themselves to building (and learning to play) their own homemade electronic instruments. In keeping with the homespun/primitive electronics nature of the project, the duo largely avoided using the internet as a resource and instead consulted books and other instrument builders for guidance and inspiration (though some exceptions were admittedly made). That purist approach extends to the recordings as well, as the duo constrained themselves to only Kinsella's voice and their self-built instruments for every song except for one very catchy exception ("For Real," which features some synth from guest Chris Livengood). Unsurprisingly, the end result of that approach is a bit of a significant stylistic detour for the band, blurring together the wonky, eclectic charm of Silver Apples with an impressionist strain of siren song psychedelia.

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There is a video on Big Blood's Youtube channel of Mulkerin performing an early version of "Came To Life" that provides a lot of insight into the scope and tone of this project, as it shows him patiently manipulating a wall of lights, dials, and wires to shape the piece's insistently driving mutant motorik groove. Then, he briefly disappears from the frame and returns wearing some kind of repurposed marching band helmet fitted with dials that trigger streaking, spacey bloops as he moves around the room. The video conveys two very important things: 1) technology-wise, the duo's self-built instruments have probably shot them back in time to the late '60s, and 2) there was definitely an element of kitschy fun to the project.


Yet another key bit of information is that the electronics definitely take center stage for the most part, as Colleen Kinsella's vocals often feel like a disconnected, dreamlike element that floats, dissolves, and lingers like a psychotropic haze. In fact, it frequently sounds like she is singing a hymn-like a capella piece in one room while clanking, blurting, and primitive electronic grooves bleed in from another. There are exceptions, however, such as the layered and swooping vocal harmonies of "Who Lives?" or the bubbly electro-pop fun of would-be single "For Real." I bring that up primarily because Big Blood also released a companion instrumental version of this album that is every bit as good as the vocal version.  Notably, the instrumentals are not dubbed-out remixes, but instead fill the void of the missing vocals with different electronic elements. Since most of the songs are not exactly songs in the first place, it genuinely does not feel like anything crucial is missing.

On the poppier end of the spectrum, the aforementioned "For Real" is an obvious highlight, as it features both an endearingly bouncy groove and Livengood's warmly New Romantic synth hook, but the Magazine-esque goth-pop of "Color of The Moment" is a gem as well. The deceptively titled "Middle of a Party" could arguably be considered poppy as well, but only if the party in question was thrown by ghosts, robots, and robot ghosts. There are also a number of cool songs that feel like a left-field nod to '60s exotica albums, such as the simmering and haunted nocturnal tropical ambiance of "Night Walk." Beyond that, there is a third category of pieces that I would loosely describe as "lurching nightmarish mindfuckery." That side is best embodied by "Floating from Xanthi II (giant fir)," which resembles a heaving Silver Apples-style groove mingled with a seance gone very wrong (eerie Theremin-like howls, chopped and distorted vocals). Elsewhere, "Night Stalk" offers a much kitschier-sounding nightmare that approximates Throbbing Gristle trying their hand at a clunkily groovy giallo score.

Notably, all of the pieces tend to be quite brief, as the inherent limitations of the gear mean that every song is essentially built from a single shifting groove, but Mulkerin and Kinsella do a fine job of never overstaying their welcome and the songs flow into one another quite nicely. More importantly, Electric Voyeur is one hell of a unique, eclectic, and charming album. In fact, I think I even prefer the more purist instrumental versions of these pieces to their vocal versions. Of course, given the extreme constraints involved, neither of the Electric Voyeur options would be a representative or ideal entry point into Big Blood's oft-wonderful discography, but this labor-of-love curveball is quite a divergent and welcome treat for already devoted fans like myself.

Listen here.