Friday 14 September 2012


They might sound like Sabbath, grimy and stoner like, but Trippy Wicked roar into life on their self titled track Going Home. It's an indication of what the album feels like. Yes, the production might reflect earlier times but "Going Home" is an energetic affair, flirting with the Sabbath sound and rocking like Queen's of The Stone Age.

Similar to their record labels first release “Stubb”, Going Home is an album characterised by imperfections. The choppy takes of vocalist Peter Holland, make for a raw performance, sometimes hitting the notes, and sometimes just growling through a riff. It keeps everything focused in a vintage era, even when the riffing occasionally veers into the modern and progressive. 

The more subtle, proggy moments, help them avoid pastiche and with the greatest intentions, set them apart from what's kicking around in the underground. That's not to say there's nothing derivative throughout the record. Quite the contrary; the stoner love-in has been echoed countless of times for better and for worse.

Trippy Wicked are in love with the Sabbath theme, and the rock-rebellion lifestyle that might come with it. If you sample "Going Home's" tracks, “I want Another Drink”, and “Pour Me Another One”, they're written about times that are cliched within the genre. That's fair enough, after all the very genre to express emotions about being stoned is in something 'stoner', but it might be more interesting if the three-piece wrote while being inebriated, instead of documenting the process while being sober.

Ultimately, Trippy Wicked have an album alight in production, but stuttering in content. It makes for an album that's only half full.

Posted by Posted by Andy at 1:02 am
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Monday 3 September 2012


The Tronix Series was a set of tunes released every month on Bandcamp from January 2011, to January 2012. Irish electro-jazz label Diatribe Records took charge of releasing the series, with the goal of bringing together musicians across diverse fields of music, and house them into one field - that field being electronic.

Tronix One is a compilation of those monthly released tracks, perhaps a 'best of the series'. Despite it being compilation light, Tronix is closer to a celebration of individuality.

Tronix One opens with Cignol's “Loose Concrete”, that's similar to something heard on Autechre's LP5. It's a cold trip-hop experiment, relaxed in a groove with a freezing melody on top. Enda Bates produces something much warmer in tone. His award winning track, “Pulse”, is a bright affair, rubbing shoulders with Lemon Jelly in an upbeat and booming rhythm, while Haci's "Frindle" is an ambient work, reminiscent of eastern artist Floex (otherwise known as video-game composer Tomas Dvorak).

ZoiD's “Istanbul Dub” is close to something Deadbeat would've created under the retired German label Scape. It's a dub tune at its centre, with all of the melody created by the natural timbre of jazz.

The final two tracks of Tronix are both improvisations and they hide the soul of a good old racket. Ultimately, this is technology and plotted algorithm on show, with the jazz improv playing second fiddle. Though that may seem like a criticism, it suits the complex nature of the entire album. What Tronix boils down to, is that it's a noisy experiment, with jazz & electronica fighting for centre stage.

Posted by Posted by Andy at 8:29 pm
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