Location:
Location:
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Title: |
Positive Pop |
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Artist: |
Synapscape |
Label: |
Ant-Zen |
With each album the sound of Synapscape can be traced back to their first self-titled CD, from there each release being a step up in detail and production values. That first album being very much a raw affair, only hints of which still come through, with Rage defining more of what Synapscape is about. Positive Pop is clearly most easily linked to the previous album, So What, both having a certain commonality in sound definition. But with that this album takes another step across its 13 tracks, incorporating aspects of other ideas, taking previous ideas a step further while retaining that thing that makes it Synapscape. Positive Pop is the fourth album by Synapscape to be released by Ant-Zen, and with this it is clear that they remain one of the labels most reliably interesting and strong acts. To go with the release of this album there is also a box set version, which comes in a heavy card box (think Saturn Gnosis style format) - in which there are the usual stickers, badge, etc as well as three 10" records. With these extra records Synapscape provide extra non-album tracks, and a series of guest artists provide remixes of the Pop material.
On the CD the most obvious stand out tracks are Ammunition, The Power Of Love and Amogue, with Bizarre Disco Junky and Dubforce rounding out the strongest run of tracks on the disc. Starting with Ammunition we have the most minimal track on the album, scraping tones against edged bass lines. A restrained swirl of sound, snaking curves, sharply edged in a mix with hollow pulses. Even with this reduced sound structure this is layered in an atmospheric manner, the strength of the detail being the strength of Ammunition. Moving on to The Power Of Love we have a twitching line against a flitting bass, the two offering suggestion of melody before triggering layered beats. The beats crunch in a mid-paced steadiness, high pitched whines and bass swirls caught up in the layers. The beats deliver a lashing construct, typical Synapscape harshness carrying against the contrasts of some of the other elements. The Power Of Love bristles, reaching a stripped section where pulsing bass comes to the fore, suggestive and significant, before resuming the colliding percussive patterns. A clang of gong sounds as the piece collapses into conclusion the drone strips of Amogue building from that, reminding in some of the more bass heavy and definitely atmospheric material from Synapscape's first CD. Micro-tones click and gather, a little buzz rising with the trickle of fractured sounds. More drifts of bass layer in a floating manner, the more diffuse detail to a minimum while this warmly stark feel envelops the listener. Extracting out from this point that is perhaps more suggestive of Templegarden's in some way there is a darker edge and the resumption of sparkling micro-sounds, shrill edged flakes. Like Ammunition it is the level of detail and the manner of construction which give this track its appeal. Flowing from The Power Of Love and Amogue we continue with Bizarre Disco Junky and Dubforce neither of which quite makes it into the excellent category, but both are certainly on the high scale of good and carry this section on well. In a lot of ways Bizarre Disco Junky is very much classic Synapscape - a distorted snarl of vocals buried in the mix against layers of clashing percussion and hyper-strained bass lines, while sine waves squeal in a tortured manner. The end of this piece sees a tonal step function, a bass tone stepping by a notch in a manner, which pits purity against insinuating. Dubforce goes for a more easy going feel, I guess dub styled bass could be said to unfold in the background, while slow beats clank and plod. Guitar like chords play a steady, growl edged line, working through the increasing layers of percussion and now a higher ridge of guitary sound.
The remaining material on the CD ranges from being pretty good to being decent but perhaps a little too typically Synapscape to stand out. Carrying well out of Ammunition, Thirsteater starts with a swirl of affected voices and bass, solid bass beat pulsing into that. This piece mounts, disruptive elements sneaking in at the edges. In some ways this is stripped by Synapscape standards and is very much a contemporary technoid piece of the moment. When Tim's vocals start to come in there is a greater sense of harshness and with that the band's individuality starts to come across more. Face Off follows, one of the slower starts with a trudging rhythm section - hard beat and sparked hi hats against a subdued bass. Distorted vocals come in caught up in an incomprehensible swirl of sound, vague stutters of noise meshing together in that uncomfortable manner Synapscape excel with. A clean tone sparks in Orbieflex repeating before triggering a crunching beat line. There are pauses while other details work into this strained distortion, mixing with developing percussive spikes and pads. On percussive levels this piece is straight ahead, mid-paced, with occasional pauses and the buried detail giving it more of an edge. Details which come up more often as the piece progresses, welling up through those pauses to become more integral. This carries on to Charity which builds from a pattering of wiry beats, before building to a more clamorous affair. With the flat hard beats there are more intense spikes and the whole develops into that mass of distorted sound, within which there are the barest hints of melody tootling away. Bielfield despite being one of the tracks that gets the mix treatment (twice even!) is the least interesting track on the disc for me, it sounds okay but for some reason doesn't inspire much more of a reaction that that. Reunion is a better track, though again it perhaps tends a little too much to being just okay. Skizzy Biz is another of the good tracks, mounting with a repeating, tight loop of sound - bass edged and hiss imbued. A voice talks through this, clearer here than in the mix by Asche, which works with the severely restrained voice of Tim which can be just about heard through the layers of sound which have unfolded from that first loop. After awhile the piece strips to a bare rhythm backed by the hesitance of a bass drone, a real contrast to the sounds that went before, building up hints of a techno influence within the midst of that stripped form.
With the box set there are three extra tracks by Synapscape along with one Synapscape mix and mixes by another eight artists. From that the new track Womb is excellent, as are the mixes by Savak, Silk Saw, Converter, NTT and Imminent. The first 10" in the Positive Pop box is the extra tracks. To start these off is the afore-mentioned Womb, a minimalist click sequence, a bubbling motion of bit strings. Passing it's first minute Womb sees the growth of a bass line, a blunt blocky form with a seesaw tone building in one step above that. Extra bass comes in as a fluid swirl, adding to the layered detail of this piece. Womb maintains a subdued feeling, going for Synapscape's more considered and atmospheric moments - but with that this is an atypical piece, incorporating contemporary influences into the Synapscape paradigm. Mounting with an increasing agitation, bass a buzzed pulse ridge and the clicks agitated sparks. Over 9 minutes long this has plenty of scope for development and with that it is a highlight. Flipping from that we have the harsher Dirtbagger, wire bound, fragile lashed seesaw rhythms set off-kilter in hard loops. Within these fractures we can hear strands of drifting sounds and muffled voices. This piece is a lot shorter going for the immediacy of a 3 minute Pop track - but with a clear rawness that has a definite Synapscape feel with perhaps a nod to the duo's participation in Monokrom. On the second side of this 10" there is a remix of Bizarre Disco Junky, re-titled Bizarre Vinyl Junky. The spotty, bobbing rhythm, with the harsh vocals that make Tim stand out, particularly live. There are twitches and pulses in this agitated detail, clearly Synapscape to anyone who listens. The second track on this side is Aerator, which goes for the same pitch, but in a less grating fashion. This has more of a technoid feel, upbeat and jagged in it's consistency - punctuated by the occasional whirr and motion of mechanisms. Blipping lines and densening bass weave into this unruly texture, providing a headache inducing level of detail.
On to the second of the 10"s and we have the first guest mix, Savak providing the surprising melody of Thirsteater. A sparse drift rising with the odd note, a flurry of breaks more reminiscent of Gridlock. The details partake of the expansion, becoming more Synapscape sounding past the first minute with the block rhythm. Layering of alternate percussions and the drifting bass are more a result of Savak's contribution. The impressions of this track gain emphasis as it goes on particularly reaching the peak of the last minute or so. The next mix is Notorious by the unfamiliar Hell G, pitching blunt breaks against gritty lines. There are bass plummets and flurries of d'n'b influence, clicks rattle in hi hat simulation. Some of the elements here work, but others come across as a little too standard and the cluttered layering doesn't necessarily disguise that. I suspect that this will see some club play and is certainly a curiosity remembering that at it's heart this is a Synapscape track. On the other side we have the first of the mixes of Bielfield, Silk Saw providing the Bielfield Work Remix. Fizzing up there is a sense of spinning motion, stripping to a raw sense of bass and stark percussion. This bristles with that Silk Saw ominousness, clacking beats through layers of bass that display a gristle and a palpable depth. In this context I suspect some people will be turned off, but as a fan of both bands this is certainly a highlight for me. More aggressive than recent Silk Saw, but clearly with their influence applied to Synapscape. Converter follow with a longer mix of The Power Of Love, amusingly titled Don't Call Me Timmi. With it's first minute and a half it doesn't remind of either band, drawn out, atmospheric bass lines, edged by spectral calls. Notes play a rich, deep sequence with a vague rawness creeping in. Then slow thumps and a fizzing static come in and the piece takes on a definite hardness, building towards a clanking, more upbeat rhythm structure while retaining some of the earlier influences. This has a definite dynamic, impressions of Converter in some of the beats, but there is also a sense that this is a cleaner sound than that of either band.
The final piece of vinyl sees a contribution by Asche, who is a regular collaborator - ex-member of Ars Moriendi like Phillipe and with the both Phillipe and Tim as well as Andrea from Morgenstern making up Monokrom. Skizzy has that Distorted Disco sound, glitching bare rhythms versus a more technoid beat structure. Affected vocal samples loop against a deeper voice and a thick bass line. The whole forms a swirling form that definitely evokes impressions of the recent Asche material. Turn Your Back. Face Me has an early Synapscape feel to it initially, with its pulsing bass reminding of something that might have appeared on one of the first two albums. However NTT soon show that their influence in this mix starting with a more piercing note cutting through, which leads to a blocky low resolution, dominating, pixellated fizz. A rapid tick oscillates within the slow aggressive mass of sound. Synapscape extracted bass notes emerging against a more focused NTT scrape cycle. Slow and dense, texture expanding with a rotary buzz and the return of the accelerated tick. Imminent surprise with their mix of Ammunition, a piece which is stripped right down, even more so than the original version. Plodding, extending clicks patter in minimalist forms, creaks and electric lines provide background hints of a more traditional Imminent influence. With impressions of bass and echoed beats we get a sense of the Synapscape source. There is a greater impression of agitated and stored potential as the piece continues - all of which combines to make this one of the piece that has stood out from the earliest listens to the album. Heading towards the last several minutes there is a step up, though the result is still minimal by the standards of most. If this is any indication of the direction that a new release from Imminent might take I suspect it will surprise many, though it would certainly interest me - though of course referring to the original version of Ammunition the direction this mix takes makes some sense, though obviously not every one would have gone in this direction. The remixes include with the Positive Box set see this third 10" completed by the second mix of Biefield, the Beilfriend Gush remix by Somatic Responses. This starts with the squelch of Somatics bass developing the rattle of Synapscape beats. Continuing with the contrast of Somatic melody and beat structures with a certain reflective grit. Clear Somatics mix to the end then a harsher spike sequence to round the piece out.
RVWR: PTR
September 2001
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