Lucky me; I've managed to see the French electro-surf-punk band La Femme twice in the past month! Touring the States following the release of their insane new 15-track deluxe album, Psycho Tropical Berlin, La Femme are a Parisian six-piece that encompass the city's stereotypes in...
In a genre as expansive and sonically promising as psych-pop, there is a lot of ground to cover. On his self-titled 4-track debut, Moodoïd, Parisian Pablo Padovani seems to have acknowledged that fact implicitly, and met the challenge ten-fold.
What's most impressive about Moodoïd's debut EP is its ability to combine multiple genres seamlessly, through the quality, variety, and—most importantly—interactivity of its sounds. While relying on the spacey bed of synths and ambient vocals characteristic of psychedelic music, Moodoïd invites other genres into its sphere, including pop, punk, grunge, and experimental, through nostalgic vocals, groovy percussion, heavy instrumentation, and irregular song patterns. "Je suis la montagne" ("I Am The Mountain"), Moodoïd's stunning opener, encapsulates many of the EP's strengths: crisp, echoey percussion that punctuates a fun, repetitious psychedelic loop, along with the driving force of grunge-y electric guitar licks. And though the EP's experimental influences make for rich patches of nightmarish or wild descent, they are in no way overpowering or alienating.
High Wolf
Kairos: Chronos
Not Not Fun Records, 2013High Wolf is obviously no stranger to complicated instrumental composition. On his most recent release, Kairos: Chronos, he creates a work that is at times elusive, consistently impressive, and stimulating enough to provide ample room for contemplation amidst its contoured layers, contrasting soundscapes, and subtle chord progressions.
The immediate density of Kairos: Chronos is striking. Whereas instrumental music normally relies on forward motion and significant musical transitions -- layering different parts as the song goes on, altering their course, and then perhaps disassembling them -- High Wolf's compositions are much more dimensional. He does not just layer one part; he layers many parts: everything from the bottom register's bass-y synth, to the percussive section's plethora of ever-changing electronic and real beats, to the upper register's ethereal and stringy synths and distorted electric guitar parts. In doing so, he creates a lush wall of sound that beeps, shimmers, and grooves, moving inward and outward, as well as back and forth.
