I checked out Alice in Ultraland, the 2005 release from Amorphous Androgynous. It's a very eclectic album incorporating downtempo, rock and world music, to name a few.
Right now I'm about half-half on songs that appeal to me versus ones that I skip. The songs I like have a Banco de Gaia/Orb kind of thing going on. You can tell a lot of care is taken to meticulously craft the sonic palette of each song, with quite heavy use of FX. The end result is an atmospheric chillout album that is quite listenable, although I find myself skipping a number of the songs because they are too smooth or the guitar starts to get on my nerves.
I'll write about the tracks I like from the album, rather than the ones I don't.
The opening track, The Emptiness in Nothingness begins with ambience and builds theatrically into an epic track.
Many of the tracks incorporate Middle-Eastern and Indian instrumentation and influences, such as sarod, sitar, tablas and others. Track 2, The Witchfinder, has some interesting uses of tablas sitar, but the vocals and rock-style chorus (replete with distorted guitar solo) prevents me from fully enjoying this track. In fact, it prevents me from even listening to this track all the way through. But again, I don't want to focus on the negative -- I really do appreciate the experimentalism of this album and the eclectic blend of influences.
My favorite track on this album is The Witch Hunt, which is very reminiscient of Amon Tobin. There are some moments in other tracks that caught my ear, but unfortunately, I couldn't fully get into the vocals-rock'n'roll thing, though of course some people will be very excited by this mix.
To summarize:
Pros:
Cons:
Right now I'm about half-half on songs that appeal to me versus ones that I skip. The songs I like have a Banco de Gaia/Orb kind of thing going on. You can tell a lot of care is taken to meticulously craft the sonic palette of each song, with quite heavy use of FX. The end result is an atmospheric chillout album that is quite listenable, although I find myself skipping a number of the songs because they are too smooth or the guitar starts to get on my nerves.
I'll write about the tracks I like from the album, rather than the ones I don't.
The opening track, The Emptiness in Nothingness begins with ambience and builds theatrically into an epic track.
Many of the tracks incorporate Middle-Eastern and Indian instrumentation and influences, such as sarod, sitar, tablas and others. Track 2, The Witchfinder, has some interesting uses of tablas sitar, but the vocals and rock-style chorus (replete with distorted guitar solo) prevents me from fully enjoying this track. In fact, it prevents me from even listening to this track all the way through. But again, I don't want to focus on the negative -- I really do appreciate the experimentalism of this album and the eclectic blend of influences.
My favorite track on this album is The Witch Hunt, which is very reminiscient of Amon Tobin. There are some moments in other tracks that caught my ear, but unfortunately, I couldn't fully get into the vocals-rock'n'roll thing, though of course some people will be very excited by this mix.
To summarize:
Pros:
- Well-crafted ambient soundscapes
- Interesting and unique instrumentation
- Good use of FX / high sound quality
Cons:
- Cheesy electric guitar solos
- Singing that didn't appeal to me
- Rock'n'roll chorus in some songs
