|
There is a slew of one man electronic musicians sprouting up all
over the internet, the country, even the world, let's face it…
EVERYONE is an electronic musician. The one upside to everyone being
an artist is that we typically find ourselves with more gardens to
pillage as opposed to the occasional diamond in the rough. So when
you find something wonderful it makes it that much more satisfying
just because of the crap you had to rifle through to get there. It's
a similar feeling as that of a just-received-pile at your local record
store.
In this case though, Cory Thomas Hanson has done what all
us Midwesterners would love to do; live in California but still make
somewhat depressing, or just misunderstood, dark but fun beats you
don't seem to find much on the west coast. Oh, and maybe get paid
for it? His project, W-H-I-T-E, has released a few singles,
starting in February, leading up to the eventual release of Twin
Tigers a few months ago. The album is available now as a digital
download or in limited vinyl pressings from Swill Children. The general
sound of the album can't be described as simply as just a Midwesterner's
dream to make goth-wave or anything like that. It's fairly complex
and well layered with lots of room for growth, it just isn't as upbeat
or shiny as most things you'd expect to be produced in California.
There are frantic drum sections with varying lo-fi and hi-fi treatments
throughout most of the tracks that lead into fun synth lines or droning
and dramatic but enticing organ sounds. There are obvious sections
where Hanson pays a little homage to the likes of Eno with
his elaborate, and at times long winded, sound-scapings.
Twin Tigers starts out with the first single that was released
back in February, "Fountain". This song is one of the best
on the album which is great for grabbing attention but kills a little
of the potential staying power. The production techniques are very
straight forward but functional. A raging tom rhythm, a crazy gating
on claps and tambourines side by side, that eventually fades to just
elaborate vocal layers carrying the song out. Other songs on the album
would possibly allow for comparison to some styles like Beach House
mixed with Fuck Buttons and Brian Eno.
One gem that really stands out is "Mondo Magic". This song
takes the listener to some sort of twisted, yet beautiful, jungle
ceremony depicted by clean tribal drums and an organ. The real killer
on the album though is the title track, which was released as the
second single before the album's release. "Twin Tigers"
starts with a lo-fi catchy beat that is the most reminiscent of Beach
House of the bunch, the sound of the keys in particular. It's mesmerizing
in the way that a Flaming Lips song is, which could easily
earn this song the rank of 'epic'. It then continues into some sort
of electronic, freak out, break down of an outro that offers a strong
and nearly offensive counterpoint to the rest of the song. The album
as a whole may need some re-working or a little polishing, but there
should still be some very high hopes for what is to come from W-H-I-T-E…
-Brad Knain
Check out more
reviews
 Talk
Back
e-mail the
chief
Like this article?
e-mail it to
a friend!
|
W-H-I-T-E
