Wednesday, October 11, 2006
SoundsXP review - Infantjoy / With
Article written by Alex McM
Oct 9, 2006.
‘With’ is the second Infantjoy album, following last year’s acclaimed ’Where The Night Goes’ (WTNG) and this album is very much it’s companion piece, consisting of five remixes by the likes of Isan, Tunng, and Mark Lodge, and seven new tracks. It’s a feisty album, and one that is not easy to pigeonhole. Infantjoy described WTNG as eclectronic, which fit’s the bill to an extent, but this album is an angrier darker and more brooding slab of electronica.
And this is an 8/10 album. After dark, it’s a 9/10 album. After dark and travelling by train or car it’s a solid gold 10 as the cinematic pieces unfold against a moving landscape. And as if to make this clear to the listener, the album begins with ’Leaving Somewhere With Someone’, a back drop of stark bleeps with a gorgeous piano melody dripping across it, and finishes with ’Arrival’.
‘Composure’ remixed by Isan follows our departure. The deliciously soft, delicate piano of the original from WTNG offset by the bleeps and whirring. It really works. ‘Exposure’ with Mark Lodge is one of the standout tracks, up tempo and uplifting, again taking the delicate piano line from WTNG but underpinning it with a skidding and thudding drumbeat and hands-in-the-air swirling keys kicking in towards the finish. And similarly, ‘Application #4’ is to die for. Like ’Risky Business’ era Tangerine Dream, pulsating and textured.
The twelve tracks are mainly instrumental with the exception of Infantjoy’s take on ’Ghosts’, the Japan mega-hit of yesteryear. The Populous remix stripping the track down to bare essentials underneath Sarah Nixey’s breathless vocal.
And all too soon the journey is complete. ’Arrival’ with Tunng introducing a hint of folk guitar before we come to a finish. But like all the best trips, this album stays with you, a thought provoking soundtrack to interesting places.
SoundsXP
Oct 9, 2006.
‘With’ is the second Infantjoy album, following last year’s acclaimed ’Where The Night Goes’ (WTNG) and this album is very much it’s companion piece, consisting of five remixes by the likes of Isan, Tunng, and Mark Lodge, and seven new tracks. It’s a feisty album, and one that is not easy to pigeonhole. Infantjoy described WTNG as eclectronic, which fit’s the bill to an extent, but this album is an angrier darker and more brooding slab of electronica.
And this is an 8/10 album. After dark, it’s a 9/10 album. After dark and travelling by train or car it’s a solid gold 10 as the cinematic pieces unfold against a moving landscape. And as if to make this clear to the listener, the album begins with ’Leaving Somewhere With Someone’, a back drop of stark bleeps with a gorgeous piano melody dripping across it, and finishes with ’Arrival’.
‘Composure’ remixed by Isan follows our departure. The deliciously soft, delicate piano of the original from WTNG offset by the bleeps and whirring. It really works. ‘Exposure’ with Mark Lodge is one of the standout tracks, up tempo and uplifting, again taking the delicate piano line from WTNG but underpinning it with a skidding and thudding drumbeat and hands-in-the-air swirling keys kicking in towards the finish. And similarly, ‘Application #4’ is to die for. Like ’Risky Business’ era Tangerine Dream, pulsating and textured.
The twelve tracks are mainly instrumental with the exception of Infantjoy’s take on ’Ghosts’, the Japan mega-hit of yesteryear. The Populous remix stripping the track down to bare essentials underneath Sarah Nixey’s breathless vocal.
And all too soon the journey is complete. ’Arrival’ with Tunng introducing a hint of folk guitar before we come to a finish. But like all the best trips, this album stays with you, a thought provoking soundtrack to interesting places.
SoundsXP
Infantjoy on iTunes
