The music industry is certainly taking new directions. Take this review for instance: You wouldn’t be reading it if it weren’t for twitter. To make a long story short, here’s some twitter dialogue from a while back:
@astroboter (…) Finished the upcoming Beat tape. Small demo collection. Will be out end of October
@Frenetisk That’s good news and I’m looking forward to hear it. You should send it to @echoesanddust 🙂
@astroboter I’ll do it. The digital version will be available for free.
Astroboter‘s latest ‘Beat Sutras Vol. I’ is a record I’ve been missing among electronic music from recent years. There is a refreshing retro sound streaming out of my speakers as soon as I hit play. Think early Quantic, Bonobo or DJ Shadow, or somewhere in between all that. The beats are catchy and bang-right-on, the playful sampling is elegantly spread out through the record and his melodic approach is that of a gentle repetitive nature.
His sampling style might be what sets Astroboter most apart from mentioned similar artists; voices from TV-series and movies are one of the main ingredients in his songs. That’s not to say no one has ever done it this way before though, I can think of an Amon Tobin-album or two from the 90s. It’s rarely a compliment to sound like other artists, but the ultimate worst case scenario is nonetheless to sound a lot like only one. Astroboter does not. He shows he has a passion for a wide range of styles by carefully combining elements from them all.
There is often an oriental world music feel from his compositions which is one of the reasons I believe he is well on his way to find his own musical voice. Every song also seems to have a directness and a clear point of view. And they flow together more nicely compared to the material from his debut self-titled full length (2012), perhaps due to the fact they are shorter. Whereas his debut album, although impressive, seemed too stretched out to catch my full interest.
Standout songs are so important these days. The sad truth is that an artist might never be able to create something truly unique, but it’s always possible to create a mind-blowing standout song or two for every release. The kind of song where it seems as though the music is truly coming through the inspired artist; the medium. The good news is that it really happened during the making of ‘Beat Sutras Vol. I’. ‘Show Her’ is an intriguing electronic symphony with cut’n’paste female vocals and some quite outstandingly catchy beats dancing together with a sampled piano melody.
What’s next? I think Astroboter should go knock on label Ninja Tune’s door. This release should certainly qualify for an entrance.
Available now from astroboter.com.
Posted by Bjarte Edvardsen.
