January 08, 2003

Static 'eject your mind'

This, dear readers, is a record you need in your collection. I'll admit that I don't have the best knowledge of the whole "electronica" scene. It just never has appealed to me; so much of it seems like egghead music made by folks who need a soundtrack for their smugness and music that only they could really enjoy. Harsh words, yes, but there's truth to what I say. And I'll be honest about this, too: if I had a better knowledge of electronica, I wouldn't mind. Nobody's ever died from too much learnin'.

Over the last year, though, I've had a few forays into the "scene," and I've come back with a few records I've enjoyed. Eject Your Mind is a record that I've recently picked up; I know it's rather old, release wise, but does music change after a year's time? Anyway, I picked this record up, because the sample I heard, of "Tsim Sha Tsui," was a very lovely song, even with the bleeps and bloops (or robot farts, as I'm wont to call them) in the melody--even a little bit of toe-tapping rhythm for you dancers out there.

Eject Your Mind is an interesting mix of musical styles. There are some moments of dancefloor bliss ("Northrop"), of thoughtful electronic meditation music ("Crushing," "Resonance"), pretty ballads ("Sometimes I'm Sad For A Few Seconds"), and some lethargic singing courtesy of Ronald Lippok (Tarwater, To Rococo Rot). All of the songs on Eject Your Mind are computer-generated, too, just in case you were worried about any real musical instruments being harmed. If I had one, I'd place this CD in a ten-disc changer, as I think the songs are better served on their own.

While I can't says what's what about this kind of music, I likes what I likes, and I knows what I knows, and I really have enjoyed the hours I've spent with Eject Your Mind, and that's all that matters, isn't it? If you like this sort of thing, then this is the sort of thing you'd like, ya know?

--Joseph Kyle

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