Artist: Kick Bong
Title:
A Waking Dream
Label:
Cosmicleaf
Released:
10th March 2014
What I've always liked about Franck's releases is there always a little different and this release moves even further afield from the Psy-Chill of earlier releases than the more recent. The title and artwork of white deers in a misty winter setting conjure a feeling of soft ambience. The music on the other hand although reflecting this is also balanced with a bouncier feel and darker edges.
The
opening track “The Beginning” starts in a field recording manner
with a gentle running stream and gentle keys, but is soon joined by
deep bass chords and a twitchy IDM beat. However, it doesn't stop
there halfway through it shifts gear and sets a tone for the album in
the sense there's a lot happening in the track, yet , at no point
seems out of place i.e. an almost but not quite industrial techno
loop is injected overlapped by a peaceful flute.
This
trend of bouncy ambience continues with some nice vocal samples in “Smooth”
while “Happy Faces” contrasts deep atmospheric synths with builds that
border on house and the production starts to bear some resemblance to
Bluetech. The next track “Electric City” is reminsicent in places
of Vangelis and Cybotron giving a more spacey feel to the album and
the sense that you're travelling to conciousness.
The
next few tracks drop the tempo as if you're drifting back into the
dream. The title track for example is a lovely guitar affair extremely reminiscent of the Cure. While “I'm Still Sleeping” starts with a
vocal sample I could easily imagine in Bazoo Bajou's “Keep Going”
while the drums are more reminiscent of the Cure's “The Empty
World” with a synthetic marching band feel interjecting the ambient
sounds. Again there's a turn of pace with a techy driving backdrop
counterbalanced with flutes and again nothing sounds out of place.
The
theme of the album then takes the dream firstly into space, followed by sadness in much
the same manner of bouncy ambience with a turn of pace before
reaching the nightmare of “The Midnight Hour” which starts in an
ambient techno manner with lots of little overlapping loops and a
wonderful guitar once again reminiscent of the Cure. Then
unexpectedly comes a vocal intro sample from probably the most famous
“Spooky” pop track of all time. I wasn't 100% sure it worked but
it did allow for that turn of pace and too be honest I think the
track could well be extended from there.
All
in all I feel this album will probably take a few listens to really
appreciate fully, as there's plenty going on within the tracks and
the production is high quality.
Review
by Woodzee
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