ALBUM REVIEW: Fluorescent Grey - Gaseous Opal Orbs

Fluorescent Grey
Gaseous Opal Orbs
Record Label Records, 2008
**** out of 5

With Gaseous Opal Orbs, Fluorescent Grey takes a seemingly tired genre like IDM (intelligent dance music), and injects some freshness into it. The IDM scene was founded about fifteen years ago by artists such as Autechre, Future Sound of London and Aphex Twin. It’s essentially a form of dance music made using contrasting and found sounds, and it arguably peaked with 1995’s I Care Because You Do. The term “dance music” must be applied only in the loosest sense, because much of it is jerky and arrhythmic: not very danceable at all. Still, it’s an interesting proposition, and artists who push the boundaries are to be commended and cherished.

As the follow-up to 2006’s Lying on the Floor Mingling With God in a Tijuana Motel Room Next Door to a Vertinary Supply Store (I couldn’t make that title up, folks), Gaseous Opal Orbs (GOO) is by far one of the most accessible releases in a genre generally renowned for it’s dour spikiness. It achieves this remarkable state of pleasantness by two means:

1. It’s got a certain variety to it that keeps it away from the repetitive nature of so much electronic music. The variations within and between the songs keeps GOO interesting and things tick along nicely. In fact, one song on the album, Celtic K-Hole employs middle-ages themed madrigals under beats and scratching that almost recalls the feeling of DJ Shadow’s underrated The Private Press. Elsewhere, there’s quasi-Gamelan music, and even some sounds redolent of the stockyards at auction time.

2. There’s a soul at the center of it that most IDM releases sadly lack. Really, GOO could easily be compared favorably to Burial’s latest album, the universally feted Untrue. In fact, I personally didn’t care for Untrue that much, finding it a little repetitious and dull. I actually think GOO is a better album, if people were to give it a few listens.

With GOO, Robbie Martin AKA Fluorescent Grey has successfully melded the oil and water of the resolutely non-commercial with something a little more interesting. Sure, the titles can be a little pretentious (Chrono-Synclastic Infundibulum? Fibrous Emerald Tendrils?), and it certainly would be seem to be a little outré for most peoples’ tastes (Avant-garde? ‘Aven’t garde a clue). However, for those looking to find something that’s just out of the mainstream as to be interesting, and just close enough as to be listenable, Gaseous Opal Orbs is a sure bet.

Review by Greg Hood-Morris

Agree? Disagree? Email Greg at criticizegreg@gmail.com

 

Comments

[505]

You have a good post here, thanks for the good read