CD / DL
13 October 2017
8.5 / 10
Experimental synth artist release his new album.
The word ‘eclectic’ was probably made for The Colour Of
Terrible Crystal. Trying to pigeonhole
the sound or the style will result in failure as Bryan Michael takes us on a
journey through ambient, pop, experimental and at times downright weird with an
album that on paper that simply shouldn’t work.
You may not be familiar with the work of Alka but this new
album could change all that, the first release since A Dog Lost In The Woods eight
years ago sees some wonderful instrumentals and part-vocal contributions which
gel together like a thousand piece jigsaw and with it, the inevitable
satisfaction of its completion. At
barely over a minute long, the opening track Piece instils a feeling that
ambient and drone may be the order of the day, instead it acts as a gentle
prelude to what may come – opening the curtain for a vast and complicated
production which conforms as much as it disobeys. Betablockers follows with a steady bassline
that sees intermediate sound effects and a distant vocal pitted against the
occasional musical break and expanse of tumbleweed quiet.
Echoes of early synth music is evident – Depeche Mode, New
Order, even Nitzer Ebb on some of the more meandering pieces – Melancholy Lasts
may also contain the hook from the Art Of Noise’s Moments In Love where
fluttering beats are joined by the occasional vocoder voice as sweeping soundscapes
prevail. Just when you think that the
album is settling down into a pleasant collection of clinical pop, Over Hills
And Vales enters the fray – an experimental collage of single tones
interspersed with seemingly random clunks and clinks which are reverbed to the
max before Sofantastick continues the avant garde theme.
Questlore sound as though it could have come from the vaults
of Erasure instrumentals (maybe not a surprise, as Vince Clarke not only guests
on the album but also releases via his new label) and, Michael’s current obsession
of revamping old synthesizers adds an enigmatic quality to the proceedings with
a delightful mix of old and new techno sounds.
Truncate is out and out pop pleasure whilst Under Waves And
Sea once more sees a darker side to Alka with more blank canvas allowing any
‘drip’ or ‘blip’ to gain maximum effect with an otherwise drone-like
track. The album ends with Wrong Side Up
and We Are Free Forms, two colossal tracks worthy of taking starring role in
any movie blockbusters as they bring a thoroughly entertaining album to a
close.
Remixes of Wrong Side Up (Mathieu Gendreau) and Truncate
(Vince Clarke) add to the sheer delight of an album that could quite easily
creep into quite a few Best Of’s at the end of the year.
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Published on Louder Than War 07/10/17 - here
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