Corrugated Tunnel - We Are Electronix
May 15, 21:58 by Stefan KoopmanschapI’ve been quite happy with Corrugated Tunnel in an earlier review of his EP Chainsmoking, and there’s really no reason to stop being happy. On this debut album, Edwin James shows some more versatility, which makes this album even more enjoyable as before.
The album starts with the pleasant old-school-sounding The Bionic Hustle, which reminds of Orbital in places. Not in a clone-type of way, the sound reminds of Orbital, but definitely with that typical Corrugated Tunnel sound. The short Frozen Farmhouse Landscape is a beautiful bridge between The Bionic Hustle and the beautiful laidback house track Not Coming Back, a beautiful, sobering track that shows that Corrugated Tunnel can do more than he has shown so far.
Pink Is The New Black goes back more to the electro/breaks roots of Edwin James. Nice breaks, beautiful melodies, and a great use of vocals samples make this track very interesting. Bassline could’ve been slightly more edgey, but that definitely does not keep me from nodding my head to the rhythm. In Lost Transmission, this is made up though. The bassline in that track is wonderful. Lost Transmission clearly shows the more house-y approach that Corrugated Tunnel is implementing, and not for the worse. It only took a bit long before the track really got going.
West Jam is a classic electro track, and definitely feels that way. No cheap fake stuff here, this is the real deal. Great rhythm, great bass, wonderful vocals! It’s just a shame it ends so soon! Only 1:43 to enjoy. Time to bring out the repeat option of your media player! :)
Chainsmoking Monkey is a track that I’ve received before. It’s still that same great track, and it seems to fit perfectly into the rest of the album. Rockstars blends house and electro together into some very nice electrohouse. It for some reason reminds me slightly of Daft Punk. The vocals are well-executed, though I’d love to hear this track being done by Romanthony for instance. I think Romanthony’s voice could give this track just that little bit extra.
More house to listen to (or dance to!) is coming from The Snare. This track evolves mainly around, you guessed it, snare sounds. It is a very minimal house track where the variation mainly comes from the snare sound being filtered and changing rhythm. This track is maybe a bit boring to listen to in a regular situation, but will work very well on the dance floor.
303 On Thirtyfirst And Fifth is a track inspired by Edwin’s stay in New York, one month after the 9/11 attacks. Not having been there, I can not imagine what a life changing experience it must be to be there in such a situation, but I can imagine that this track is very important to an artist. Music is an outlet for feelings and emotion. I get two feelings with this track. The track has a very sober feeling, a feeling of reality. Then, I feel a lot of hope in this track. With this background, that is I guess the hope for the future. The wonderful thing of this track is that it feels so positive. No darkness at all, but life after darkness.
This Is Not A Test brings some banging dark electro acid sounds. And then follows the title track. A slow building house track, again with some great acid basslines, building and building until the break, and even then it keeps on building. A breakbeat kicks in, offering some great variation. I guess this track is the correct title track, presenting the various aspects of this whole album in a single track. House, acid breakbeats. And excellent, solid production.
Adieu is the closing track on the album, and it’s a happy parting. A great downtempo track. The only thing that seems to me slightly out-of-place is the “guitar”. Especially in the lower parts, it doesn’t seem right. The higher notes do feel correct though.
All in all, this album is great! The order of tracks seems a bit weird, sometimes giving you the feeling that you run back and forth between styles and feelings, but the individual tracks have little to comment about in a negative way. It is not surprising that Corrugated Tunnel is said to be having a very big influence on the current electronic music scene in Ireland. I feel that, with the right promotion and the right people learning about the existence of Corrugated Tunnel, this effect can become a global effect. Corrugated Tunnel definitely has the potential to become big on a global scale, and I’d gladly see him do that.
#