Rapoon/Census Of Hallucinations - "Industrial Exchange"
Make no mistake about it - this is a Rapoon album - sure it may be based around sound sources from the latest album by psych band Census Of Hallucinations, but the overall sound and effect is one that is Rapoon through and through. The first three tracks are founded on layer after layer of space, cosmic, dark, industrial and hugely expansive electronic layers, textures, soundscapes. There's this endless sea of layers and textures, from bass electronic undercurrents to echoed piano and all points in between, the overall effect like some kind of otherworldly cosmic symphony in a very dark place indeed. Then, on track 4 the music fades in and there's rhythm - but not just any rhythm - this thing's like a freight train out of control. Above, beyond and around this there's all manner of percussives, cosmic electronic darkness and another seemingly infinite universe of soundscapes, fx and textures, the whole thing being intense, powerful and mind-blowing. "Amalgatron" settles back to a seriously eerie and ethereal sea of ebbing and flowing electronics and treatments, any semblance of the original song chiming through the darkness with a guitar ringing like a bell, which really adds a fantastic extra dimension to a slice of creepy and menacing industrial space music. "Provide What We Really Need" is a cyclical piece set around the constant repetition of the title set to a train-ride of percussive, electronic rhythms and fx, as layer upon layer is added to the mix and the track circles round your head like a demented vulture, any longer and it would drive you quite insane. "Eyeing The Third" takes us on another space exploration while "If At First You Don't Succeed" takes the idea of "Provide" earlier but sets it to a bouncing bomb of beats and rhythms as percussion and drums become the main focus while the huge expanse of electronics and treatments take up the vast depths of the mix and arrangement. This time, while the title is repeated in clipped fashion, there is more variation even though the thing does swirl round your head making you positively dizzy by the end. "Pollutician" is like some factory set to music in a parallel universe and the album ends with "Slide Rule Calculation" which provides some much needed calm, albeit weird calm, at the end of what's been, not merely an engaging and highly unique album, but a total listening experience that could prove seriously addictive.
(Reviewed by Andy Garibaldi - Dead Earnest, 05-12)
http://www.deadearnest.btinternet.co.uk