Title: Long-Distance Side Trip
Artist: Mind.Area
Genre: Electro-Industrial
Release Date: 19th February 2010
Label: Ionium Records
Album Review
Studio projects are often either mediocre self-serving garbage, or as close to genius as one can get. I’m glad to say this is not self-serving garbage. This is what I’d like to hear in the coming down hours after a night of hard nasty Industrial. It’s straddling dark ambient, glitchy electro and danceable industrial. Occasionally the sound flirts with that late 90’s complicated and euphoric techno made famous by Moby and the Orb. But Maikko A.’s (of Human Decay) project lacks the pretension of these. And despite some very un-poppy vocals, it is in fact a lot of fun - kind of like ohGr.
‘Assimilate’ (let’s face it, is a name synonymous Skinny Puppy), but Mind.Area has appropriated it and made the title it’s own with a glitchy, ambient electronic track that could be a Skinny Puppy remix. ‘Being Suffering’ is a darker kind of electro, not unlike Front Line Assembly, harder and less hypnotic than the opener, it quickly shows the breadth of the ambitions for this album. ‘Materialistics’ is a reworked version from the previous “internet only” release, not being familiar with the original it is a moot point though, but like the opening track it is a hypnotic blend of dance beats and swirling electronics. ‘Fanatic Romance’ is an odd mix of chill out Electronica blended with lo-fi drum beats and crunchy Synth noises to create a really interesting track. ‘Love is Blind’ has a very pronounced late 80’s feel with its vintage analogue sounds and distorted vocals.
‘New World’ is more ambient swirling Electronica permeated by dance beats which again makes for an infectious fusion. ‘Proposition’ however feels more like a dark electro-industrial track again with its darker, harsher sounds over the dance beats. ‘Grief of Love’ opens with female vocals before getting into the glitchy Electronica again; actually it would be nice to hear some different voices such as these as the only downside to the album so far has been the repetitive vocals. ‘Sap’ sees the glitchiness of the previous tracks get turned up a few notches for a fun toe-tapping song. ‘The Call’ harks back to tracks like ‘Assimilate’ and ‘Fanatic Romance’ for another interesting dance floor pleaser. ‘Thenceforward’ puts me in mind of the recent Goteki output somewhat with its choice of Synth and vocal sounds, but with a slightly more serious edge to it.
On the end of the CD are the obligatory remixes, which are all good in their own right and put a nice spin on the originals. But in the end they’re just a little something for the DJs. Altogether this is a great album. Smart Electro-Industrial you can either dance or chill out to. Though this collection took three years to get recorded and see the light of day, if the next release is as good as this I wouldn’t begrudge Maikko A. a few years to get it done.
Tracklist
01. Assimilate
02. Being suffering
03. Materialistics (rework)
04. Fanatic romance
05. Love is blind
06. New world
07. Proposition (reconstructed)
08. Grief of love (edit)
09. Sap
10. The call
11. Thenceforward (version)
12. Fanatic romance - (acid nights) rmx by BLAME
13. Materialistics - dISHARMONY rmx
13. Being suffering - HUMAN DECAY rmx
Line-up
Maikko A.
Websites
www.myspace.com/mindarea
Cover Picture
Rating
Music: 8
Sound: 9
Extras: -
Total: 8.5 / 10
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