The Unireverse - Plays The Music
Apr 5, 23:49 by Stefan KoopmanschapPlays the music is the debut of a new collaborative project of Alex Moskos, Brian Damage and Michael Caffery, three artists that have been active in various projects before (Kubelka, Phycus, Daydream Square, Beautifuzz). They now come together to form a trio that does electronic music. The debut album, Plays The Music, offers a variety of covers from well-known artists (The Beatles, Donna Summer/Giorgio Moroder) and lesser known artists (The Red Krayola, Brainticket) combined with original songs, all in a very analog, electronic setting with a psychedelic touch.
Tomorrow Never Knows is a cover of a Beatles song, and reminds me a lot of The Chemical Brothers for some reason. The only thing missing is the beats that the Chemical Brothers bring, but aside from that, it sounds very similar to a few Chemical Brothers tracks, mostly the latter “clones” Tom and Ed did of The Private Psychedelic Reel, those tracks that tried to get that same feeling but never fully succeeded. Tomorrow Never Knows really works well, better than most of the previously mentioned “clones”. The very full, solid sound, quite possible there thanks to the mastering by Paul Dolden, definitely adds to the overwhelming effect this track has.
The first original track on this album is Supergravity, a ballad if you could call it that. Very down tempo and laid back, Supergravity has a very nice deep bass sound. The track is very repetitive though, which may or may not work well, depending on your own mood mostly. I’ve found myself dream away to the track, losing myself in the music, but at other times, I was just sitting, listening, waiting for something to happen. Something less subtle does happen, but not until well into the track. At that point, when not in the right mood, it has already taken too long. But, as mentioned, when in the right mood, the track can completely engulf you, and you can lose yourself in the subtleties of the track.
I Feel Love is one of my favorite tracks of all time, I was thrilled when I found a copy of the long version of this Donna Summer track on vinyl finally after years of looking for it. The version that The Unireverse brings on this album mostly makes me smile and laugh. To me personally, this seems more like a parody than a true cover. But again, I’m speaking here as a lover of the original, a complete addict. And I can’t say this version is badly executed, however the style in which it is being done just sounds like a parody to me.
Daemon Bubbles is the next original track, which sounds very, very fat. It starts with a quite weird, experimental intro that takes about one minute and is very chaotic. What follows is no less experimental, but maybe slightly less chaotic at least. This track will probably be most interesting for those who like old experimental synthesizer music. Even when the rhythm is introduced, I am having a hard time of really getting into this track.
The longest track on the album, even longer than U Feel Love, is Transparent Radiation, another cover. This track is a cover of a track unknown to me by The Red Krayola. It is usually quite hard to entertain people for over 18 (!) minutes. As with Supergravity, this track also is driven mostly by subtle changes, with less subtle changes far apart. It’s a nice track, but shouldn’t need to last for 18 minutes in my opinion.
20 Rats At Once is the third original track, a very experimental soundscape-ish piece with percussive rhythms joining the fray. The track has a very hypnotic effect. The track is very short, but because it is so intense and overwhelming, that is probably good. This lets the track keep it’s power.
With just two tracks to go on the album, we encounter Brainticket, a cover of the band with the same name. A very rock-influenced track, the loops used definitely are well-chosen and well-cut, however, even after about 1 minute in the track, you except big beats to come in, breaks to give rhythm to the whole track, and that doesn’t happen. The track would most probably be much more powerful and effective if these rhythms were there. At about 3.5 minutes into the track, some more rhythmic elements do join, but there’s no big beats, not breaks. Of course, The Unireverse is not the band to introduce Chemical Brothers-like breaks, but anything slightly more into the mainstream would’ve been very powerful indeed.
The title track has been kept for the last, Plays The Music is an industrial-ish track. The shortest track on the album but no less powerful, this track definitely keeps your interest. The track builds and builds a wall of sound, removing the rhythm and leaving you first with noise, and then with sobering bells.
The Unireverse’s Plays The Music is an album that is for those interested in experimental, sometimes noisy stuff. Definitely with repetition, not everything is to my personal liking. However, obviously, this is just the opinion of one person. The album is very solid though, and there are many interesting moments.
Released on No Type
See also: The Unireverse website