Recommended by us on 14th May 2010
...according to our Ant on Thu 13 May, 2010.
This is just the second release by this artist but it displays an immense amount of production skill. What we have here is some highly inventive experimental electronic pop that sort of works within a sort of dubstep framework with a heavy does of funk and an electro sensibility. He really pulls it off, and all without plug-ins! A talented artist for sure with lots of colorful and well conceived ideas. He just about manages to hold on to the groove as the sounds twist and warp all over the place. Clever clogs he is...
* Prepare your ears and adjust your brain
for some of the most inventive modern pop you’ll hear all year, with
Rudi Zygadlo’s debut ‘Great Western Laymen’.
* Rudi Zygadlo makes
pop music like no-one else, taking the fundamentals of dubstep in a
direction that is as unexpected as it is unique, he’s created an
amalgamation of pop song writing with a contemporary electronic rewiring which
is heavy with influences as wide as Frank Zappa, John Carpenter,
Eastern European Classical music and contemporary US indie. Working
like a disciplined artist, Rudi’s music squeezes the most out of what
he’s got, working with a restricted palette of sounds, using no
plug-ins, but layering on live instruments to give the music an added
depth, and the results are astounding.
* Growing up in the
Scottish countryside to artist parents without a T.V. but with access to
plenty of music, young Rudi would fall asleep to Hendrix at the age
of 8 and developed a liking for his father’s tastes in Classical music
too. He started to perform music early on in his teens and joined
groups, but always had a wish to create the music tucked away in his
head.
* From the opener ‘Manuscripts Don’t Burn’ which starts by
growing into shape, before Rudi’s double-tracked harmonies drop into
place, to the laidback ‘Perfect Lust’ with it's lightly treated vocals
and swooping bleeps, this is intriguing and lovely music; in 'Song Of
Praise' harmonies take flight before they’re dragged down and bent out
of shape while the graceful melodies are rendered bleeping and
vibrating and casting 3D shapes. Check ‘Filthy Logic’s’ weird but comfortable
mix of choir-like vocals and John Carpenter synths, or ‘Stop/Reject’s’
manipulated guitar solos over twilight synths and lush piano runs
which recall 80’s Balearic pop. This is an unusually brave and modern
album where dubstep's modes and fx and intelligent artful pop sit
very comfortably together.
* The title of the album pays homage to
his residence in Glasgow which sits between two churches on Great
Western Road. There is a strong ecclesiastical theme which runs
throughout the lyrics which gives the album yet another layer of intrigue.
‘Great Western Laymen’ is a future classic in the making.
*
TRACKLIST:
2LP: A Manuscripts Don't Burn, Something About Faith,
Layman's Requiem, A Room To Sing B Perfect Lust, Filthy Logic, Magic
In The Afternoon C Song Of Praise, Stop/Reject, Resealable Friendship D
Missa Per Brevis, The Man In The Duck, Opiate Of The Mass
CD: 01
Manuscripts Don't Burn 02 Something About Faith 03 Layman's Requiem 04 A
Room To Sing 05 Perfect Lust 06 Filthy Logic 07 Song Of Praise 08
Magic In The Afternoon 09 Stop/Reject 10 Resealable Friendship 11 Missa
Per Brevis 12 The Man In The Duck 13 Opiate Of The Mass
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