Monotony is Underrated
I was once discussing music with my old Kiwi pal Johnny Bitburger in some nondescript “piano bar” in London. We were on the subject of electronica. As a graduate of Classical Music, Johnny was passionate about the role of monotony. It was, he thought, an underrated skill. It takes a good musician to master the form, building multiple layers of music with small shifts of focus on a sparse canvass. Most fail badly, ending up with something which is simply dull and tedious; other’s try and put too much into it, ending up with a wall of ear-aching cacophony (most trance I’ve heard would fall into one of these categories). But done well and monotony can be a mesmerising, almost transcendental musical experience. And this is exactly where the latest Swedish electronica hotshots Studio sit. Even at an early age, they have mastered the art of restraint and monotony to perfection.
A lot of the sound of Studio’s debut album Yearbook 1 reminds me of Happy Monday’s remix land - a great “baggy” sound that goes round and round in wonderfully sustaining loops and beats. There’s a good dash of Balearic in here too (references to “Solid Good Times” and “Beach Life” abound), and some bass lines shamelessly nicked from Peter Hook. Throw in a little reggae guitar, some retro VIC-20/A-Ha synth effects, and some (yet again) Duran Duran moments (what is it with that just now?) and you’ll get the general idea. The lead-singer (if you can call him that – he only shows up for two out of the ten tracks) has the same intonation as Shaun Ryder, but without the edge of menace. All the tracks have short, abstract titles, and in general last for anything between five to fifteen minutes. It’s the kind of music that I want to play at my (wholly imaginary) pool party this summer late at night. Apparently these songs have been around for a while on various limited edition 12 inches, which, of course, haven't even remotely registered on my aging radar. However they’ve now put a whole year's releases onto a CD album thingy for old fogeys like me and you to enjoy. If you liked the old "Madchester" scene – and I did – then you should get a copy of Studio's album immediately. If you do you’ll have what must be one of the year’s albums on your hands already – and it’s only March (well, almost)! 8/10
I was once discussing music with my old Kiwi pal Johnny Bitburger in some nondescript “piano bar” in London. We were on the subject of electronica. As a graduate of Classical Music, Johnny was passionate about the role of monotony. It was, he thought, an underrated skill. It takes a good musician to master the form, building multiple layers of music with small shifts of focus on a sparse canvass. Most fail badly, ending up with something which is simply dull and tedious; other’s try and put too much into it, ending up with a wall of ear-aching cacophony (most trance I’ve heard would fall into one of these categories). But done well and monotony can be a mesmerising, almost transcendental musical experience. And this is exactly where the latest Swedish electronica hotshots Studio sit. Even at an early age, they have mastered the art of restraint and monotony to perfection.
A lot of the sound of Studio’s debut album Yearbook 1 reminds me of Happy Monday’s remix land - a great “baggy” sound that goes round and round in wonderfully sustaining loops and beats. There’s a good dash of Balearic in here too (references to “Solid Good Times” and “Beach Life” abound), and some bass lines shamelessly nicked from Peter Hook. Throw in a little reggae guitar, some retro VIC-20/A-Ha synth effects, and some (yet again) Duran Duran moments (what is it with that just now?) and you’ll get the general idea. The lead-singer (if you can call him that – he only shows up for two out of the ten tracks) has the same intonation as Shaun Ryder, but without the edge of menace. All the tracks have short, abstract titles, and in general last for anything between five to fifteen minutes. It’s the kind of music that I want to play at my (wholly imaginary) pool party this summer late at night. Apparently these songs have been around for a while on various limited edition 12 inches, which, of course, haven't even remotely registered on my aging radar. However they’ve now put a whole year's releases onto a CD album thingy for old fogeys like me and you to enjoy. If you liked the old "Madchester" scene – and I did – then you should get a copy of Studio's album immediately. If you do you’ll have what must be one of the year’s albums on your hands already – and it’s only March (well, almost)! 8/10
Recommended Wine: Yearbook 1 is definitely late-night, Mediterranean beach style summer music. Music this cool needs a cool wine to go with it, so I'm going for a fruity and fun number, in this case a California McManis Viognier from 2005.
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