‘Arts And Crafts’ is the debut album from Memphis Industries’ The Black Neon and what a beautifully presented bit sized portion of inspired, indie enhanced, electro audio bliss it is. Guaranteed to meet predictable comparisons along the way with Kraftwerk meets Pink Floyd meets 1960’s swirling psychedelic pop rock, The Black Neon deserves much better. ‘Arts And Crafts’ has an understated and subdued intensity that follows its own multi sounding direction and no one else's.
This isn’t your average electro album per say, there’s plenty of guitar central to the core of ‘Arts And Crafts’ traditional space age explorations, but it uses just the right mix of electro and guitar to enhance and transcend an otherwise hit and miss formula, thus creating an edgy yet familiar collection of songs.
In parts ‘Arts And Crafts’ is inventively compelling. The opening track ‘Ode To Immer Wieder’ and ‘Hollywood 1, 2 & 3’ are driving instrumental numbers that use MiniKorg, Gleeman Pentaphonic and RSF Kobol Expander amongst others, to create a truly dizzying and addictive effect. Conversely the skipping, strumming and stoned ‘Ralph & Barbara’, and the delightfully drifting ‘Cast The Light’ and ‘Infinity Pool’ are trippy outings of laid back concentrated vocal splendor, all backed up and reinforced by The Black Neon’s signature sound. And it’s not all up beat happy clappy trash either. There are many sides to The Black Neon’s creativity and he mixes the highs with the lows, the good times with the bad, but with such delicate intelligence that you can’t help but to trust him. The darker, gritty side to the album comes in through ‘The Truth’, ‘TX81Z’, and the dark and moody ‘The Exit’. But this is grit by The Black Neon’s standards and he manages to retain a polished realistic yet optimistic outlook throughout.
|
There’s a lot of great ideas (and more importantly, ones that work) on ‘Arts And Crafts’, but despite this you may also feel a bit cheated. As each track finishes and another begins, you expect bigger and better things than the last until it ultimately orgasms in a moment of sheer unprecedented musical genius. Unfortunately this doesn't quite happen. The albums basics are laid out from the start and whilst its diversity is unquestionable, it doesn't stray, as you might expect it to, that far from its self imposed path. That said and done, it doesn't take away from a fantastic and in many ways brave album.
Complimenting the space age electro themes is a mix of dreamy up beat tunes, in particular ‘The Ghost’, which assumes, adopts and adapts to an almost Bowie-esque identity. There’s also a distinctive nod to more old skool influences with ‘Shoot Me Into Space’, which not only takes on a well tailored contemporary soulful vibe, but once again serves to illustrate the colorful variation that ‘Arts And Crafts’ has to offer.
Listening to ‘Arts And Crafts’ transports you head first into the acutely visionary world of The Black Neon and coupled with the attempted secrecy and mystery surrounding the identity of this artist and added to the fact that he no longer plays live shows, only adds to the overall effect. It’s an amazing album that reveals something new with every play and should be treated with the respect and understanding it commands and deserves.
|
