The Destruction of Subtlety

This begins, as most things do, with a fairly innocuous event that eventually led my mind down the path of current affairs.  To be honest, when I say 'current' please take it as 'happened in the past decade' as I appear to be trapped in a horrific time-warp.

Going back to a recent Saturday evening, where I decided to go for a bit of a walk, headphones in place and seeking a possible soundtrack to drown out the London ambience.  After much mindless scrolling on my phone and not looking where I was going, I eventually settled on a long-neglected and somewhat overlooked album, The Destruction of Small Ideas by Sheffield lads 65DaysOfStatic.

Bewildering album art as standard.

Compared to their previous releases, their third offering is far less 'noisy' as far as dynamic compression is concerned, opting to lower the volume so that the listener can actually hear everything that is going on in each track, rather than being attacked by the cacophony.  For once I actually did some research to discover that this was a deliberate move after being inspired by a magazine review in which the author bemoans the ongoing 'loudness wars' fiasco.

For those unfamiliar with what that means, it is where an album or song, usually in the mastering stage, gets its dynamic range processed which effectively compresses it to produce a seemingly louder mix overall.  That is the bare bones of it, I am not so much of an audiophile as to know much more, I confess.  This method has been a gradual yet increasing problem since the advent of CDs and it causes distortion and sometimes leads to a generally unpleasant listening experience .

Yes, this album.

This is effectively the band or artist showing off in effect, as the dynamically louder tracks stand out more, thus calling the listener to pay more attention, if only to remark on how utterly terrible it sounds.  It is strange that, with the competitive element near-eliminated thanks to no one actually buying CDs any more, this trend is not only  continuing but becoming even more prevalent, especially with regards to the nightclub scene where it is not only rife but appears to be encouraged.  In that genres slight defence, they have mastered the art of side-chaining and other forms of dancing around the unlistenable; as such it doesn't sound quite as horrid or blaring as, say, compressing the drums on a rock album.

Which explains Lars' expression here.

Going back to 65DOS, the fact that they had to consciously make their dynamic range wider, or leave it largely uncompressed, says as much for the modern music scene.  When a band does this it shouldn't be out of defiance but because it just plain sounds better.  To be frank, going by their other albums, dynamic compression sounds like it'd benefit, but as 'Destruction...' proves, a wider listening range brings forth many aural pleasantries.  Their glitch-drenched buzzes and squeaks sink behind the lush pianos and ambient sounds, with their organic percussion and guitars marrying it all together; a real treat.

With so many bedroom producers that are floating about these days, surely there should be no need for such dynamic butchery, but yet it continues, ad nausea I fear.  No wonder there is an issue with hearing damage, especially when the poor things are being assaulted with every note pushing beyond the loudest it could, and indeed should, possibly go.

If you do happen to own an album, or even a track, that you find is quieter than most of your collection, simply turn the volume up and enjoy the lack of discomfort it brings; your ears will thank you.

 - S M

Finally, listen to the prettiness that is this not-compressed-to-fuckery song:

Savant - πρῶτος (Protos)

The day has finally come where I am actually writing about a new album that has been released (well, it came out a month ago, but I've only just heard it so it counts!), and what a fantastic album to start this trend!

Alexsander Vinter, better known to many whilst operating under the insanely prolific 'complextro' genius moniker Savant, has recently unveiled his 10th opus, entitled πρῶτος (commonly named 'Protos' for those of us that aren't adept at deciphering the Ancient Greek alphabet). Seeing as he has only been active in the music scene since 2011, the fact he has made so much music in this time suggests he is either an alien or a cyborg with synthesisers for arms. Not since Canadian prodigy Venetian Snares has someone been so prolific and consistent, albeit more accessible than Snares', whose sounds are intricate, spastic and near-nightmarish at times. Anyway, I digress; back to the album in question. First off, let's just take a step back to admire just how ridiculously bizarre and OTT the artwork is:

I could end this review right here, to be fair.

The bold Saturday Morning Anime feel of the album sleeve is a deliberate nod to the listener pertaining to what they are about to experience; a bold departure from his trademark sound, often wandering into early nineties electro-pop and beyond. In a scene that is starting to become incredibly saturated by similar sounding artists churning out familiar beats and drops, it was only a matter of time before someone pulled a musical 180. It was also a potentially dangerous move, seeing as some people (read: "hordes of internet trolls") seem to take exception to change.

The album's bio suggests that the inspiration was indeed the cartoons Savant watched whilst growing up; the influence is crystal clear from the get-go, with opener Man of the Law laying down a solid foundation of what's to come. Moving through the album, the ludicrously-yet-aptly titled Laser Sharks could easily be a theme to a Biker Mice from Mars style toon, in which Vinter sings about teenage sharks from outer space, "fighting the American dream", no doubt with tongue firmly lodged in cheek. Rider in Red and Super Sheriff follow a similar narrative vein, although it has to be said that the latter is skimming the fringes of overt cheesiness in place of nostalgic homage.

Of course, this being a Savant album, the entire tracklist is hardly samey, as the listener progresses they are treated to tracks such as Prototype, a track that wouldn't sound out of place scoring the film Drive, save for the oddly placed Hardstyle break at the end. The track Quest appears to be a six-minute-plus homage to early videogames, leaving the more nostalgically inclined of listeners wiping a tear or two from their glistening wide eyes. The only track on the entire album to hint at Savant's 'old' sound is Rise Up, which has a slight dubstep feel to it, but manages to stay within the theme of the album as a whole.

In summary, Protos is undoubtedly a fun, diverse and insanely catchy ride, but may be too drastic a departure from his earlier sound for some fans to digest. Also, and this is a minor gripe, it does seem to feel like it runs on a little long, even though it is actually shorter than his epic masterpieces such as Alchemist and the preceding album Orakel. This could be because it lacks the broad diversity of the aforementioned, seeing as this is more of a concept album than his previous efforts and is therefore more focused on telling a musical tale.

This leaves much speculation as to what Savant's next album will sound like, for now he has broken through the barrier of familiar EDM tropes there is no bounds to where his musical journey could end up. I once observed that, pertaining to an earlier album of his, it reminded me of a Gameboy that had been thrown into a rave entirely populated by various Pokémon. Well, it looks like something has happened; congratulations, Savant has evolved!


- S M


Buy πρῶτος here:

http://shop.savantofficial.com/album/protos