Those of you who follow The Playlist --- and anyone reading above --- will know I previously reviewed music by YorkeDaddy under his band name of cloudcover (lowercase “c” is very important!) and was totally blown away by it. This, however, I believe, is a solo project and more rooted in soft ambient music, whereas “Frownland” (no relation to our own Captain Beefheart fan!) was more a rock album with some other styles and of course vocals. I think this is all instrumental, but we'll find out as we go along. Great title, too.
Apathy, always --- Daydream Society --- 2014 (Bandcamp release)
The album cover gives you an idea what to expect, with soft-focus colours and a real dreamy look to it, which fits in very well with the name YorkeDaddy has chosen for this particular incarnation of his musical persona. There are only seven tracks, but I see two nine-minuters (almost) and one that runs for seven and a half, so there should be about forty-odd minutes of music here. We open on “Every star could fit in my hand”, with a big, droning, rumbling synth, joined by another, lower but just as deep, and I think possibly a third there? Very dramatic and cinematic indeed. I think that's voice effects coming through now or it could be guitar work, and drum loops? I'm not a musician so I don't know, but that's what it sounds like, almost like something trying to surface from the perhaps cloying sound, a swimmer coming up for air. Reminds me of later Floyd, “Signs of life”, that sort of thing. Tone has changed slightly now, and I think it's just the one synth holding the chord as the effects go on, very quiet and low in the mix.
This is one of the nine-minute-almost tracks (8:40) and it looks like there'll be plenty happening over the course of that time. The synth has dropped out completely now and been replaced by a guitar which kind of sounds like a jet engine or maybe water running down a plughole. More, slightly lighter synth coming in now, the darker, almost threatening tone of the opening section gone, and the feel of perhaps a sun rising after a dark night. A storm perhaps? Definitely a lighter, more positive edge to the music, and now we get soft choral vocals that reminds me of both Vangelis and Twelfth Night, stretching out in a kind of Solar Fields way. I see we're now six minutes in, but the time has flown and this has not in any way dragged. As the tune heads towards what I guess is its climax there's a guitar screeching --- I think; this could all be made on synth, who knows? --- and an impression of climbing, reaching, striving. I have no idea if this is what YD intended it to convey, but that's what I hear.
Fading out and down now on a descending synth/guitar line, and though I'm impressed, I sort of expected to be, having heard what this guy can do already. “Bloodstream”, up next, is shorter, just shy of five minutes, and has a really nice echoey synth starting it off, a brighter sound than the previous, with what sounds like little flutey sounds coming in now too as the keyboard holds the main chord, rolling sounds that could be cymbals or maybe synth lines washing over the tune. A violin-like melody joins the held chord, then more synth joins in with a rising, uplifting sound that only lasts for a few seconds before a sharp guitar makes a sound like an engine revving as most of the other instruments fall away other than low, deep percussion. Definitely get the idea of riding along a highway at top speed.
Now the engine dies away and spacey, video-game-like synth sounds hop all over the tune, very electronica, with a big deep bassy synth in the background. Reminds me of early Hawkwind, this. Fading out to bring in “Living in a bleak room”, which opens on a sound like thunder rolling then some strange mechanical sounds --- get a sense of the beginning of “Welcome to the machine” here --- very robotic. One of the sounds makes me think of chickens in a coop. How odd. A soft but deep rising synth now, then those videogame effects again (have you been listening to too much Dragonforce, YorkeDaddy?)
--- in fact, it's almost like one of those arcade games having had the buttons hit down too hard and jamming, just a sort of repeat of the same notes. Then a hammering bass comes through, almost like someone feeling their way along blindly with a cane through an alley or something, very echoey. Bleak is in the title and bleak is certainly the feeling you get form this piece, then YD throws us a “Close Encounters” style synth riff. Very eerie and it takes us to the end of the track.
“Survivors believe” then has a nice busy guitar opening, kind of a feeling of bells or some sort of metal being struck, also reminds me of those sounds railway level crossings make when a train is on the way. Soft but insistent little percussion coming in now along with some bass, then a stuttering guitar but it's a little lacking in a melody you can pin down, at least for my tastes. Bit too experimental perhaps. It is almost seven minutes long though, and we're only heading into the third of those, so it may get more cohesive. There's definitely a repeating rhythm there, it's just not something I would, for instance, hum later. Nothing to nail a tune to, from my point of view. Great instrumentation, certainly; I would just rather hear something I could recognise as a melody. Low synth now running off a riff which is very space rock but quite muted, with the original beat and melody line, such as it is, still going on in the background. No, not a fan of this I'm afraid.
So what about the next track? Well, “Mortal” is either corrupt or it's just way beyond anything I could consider to be music. It's like a constant stuttering line, not quite static but like when you're playing music and something loops in your computer and you just hear the same note hammered repeatedly ---
duh-duh-duh-duhduh! Sorry man I bloody hate this. Hurts my ears. Luckily it's only just over a minute and a half long and takes us into the longest track, almost eight minutes of “A semblance of normality”. Unfortunately for me, this kicks off with a similar sound, like lasers or videogame effects, with some dark echo behind it like muted thunder but no melody. In fairness, we're barely a minute in so let's give it a chance, but I hope it's not going to be eight-plus minutes of sounds like the last track: I don't think I could handle that.
I don't wish to be harsh, but it's hard to believe this is the same guy who created the cloudcover album. This for the most part seems to have no real melody and sounds like someone just playing with concepts, ideas and sounds but without any real direction or plan. Of course, I'm sure there is, but I just don't hear it. Experimental music is never my thing, and though YD said this was ambient, it's not what I'd call it. We're now three minutes in and again nothing but odd sounds, effects and noises. Turning into something of a disappointment for me, especially given the very decent opening track. But since then it really has gone downhill for me. I'm sure experimental guys like Frownland will love this, but to me it is sadly just a collection of not quite random noises, but not music, not to me. Definitely not something I would put on to relax, that's for sure.
I find it sad that I'm looking ahead and thinking thank god there's only one more track, whereas with Snake Walk I was hoping there would be more. But this album just is not gripping me at all, and I am sorry to say I'll be glad when it's over. And it does come to an end with “Love like forgiveness”, another long track, over seven minutes, which has a nice sort of peppy keyboard start and goes much more uptempo than anything here. Deep organ coming in complements the synth nicely, slow to fast, drone to bop, then the percussion comes in and this has more a feel of krautrock or maybe new wave about it, a sense of melody finally. I can her Carbon Based Lifeforms here, and Air, maybe even some Mogwai to an extent. Think that's a vocoder now, memories of cloudcover. If I had to pick a favourite track it would be this or the opener, but the rest I'm afraid have really not impressed me at all. But you might like them. You might love them. Just not for me.
TRACKLISTING
1. Every star could fit in my hand
2. Bloodstream
3. Living in a bleak room
4. Survivors believe
5. Mortal
6. A semblance of normality
7. Love like forgiveness
I'm not going to say this was rubbish, as I know how hard it is to make music and how much time, effort and energy people put into their creations. But after having heard “Frownland” I had expected more from YorkeDaddy. Maybe that was my mistake: expecting that his solo ambient/electronica stuff would be the same as his work with Shuyler, but this is totally different. I guess it reveals another side to the man, and he certainly can construct pieces of music; I just prefer to be able to discern or follow a melody when I listen. This is, as I say, too abstract for me.
But for what it is, it's well played and written. I definitely think I prefer the cloudcover material though. Once I've got through a few other albums here I'll be going back to give their new one a shot, and hopefully will have nicer things to say. Don't let me turn you off listening to this though: if experimental, drony, abstract expressionist electronica is your thing you'll probably really appreciate this. It just is not for me.
Sorry, man.
