The Oscillation

Our review
Customer reviews
Press release

4...according to our Mike on Thu 01 Dec, 2011.

With this being one of them hand-stamped white label 12” jobbies I was totally expecting these guys to be some sort of dance act, but upon closer listening this is actually unquestionably a slab of rock, with motorik beats and some satisfyingly filthy bass tones. There's some wakka-wakka guitars in places that you'd think would throw it into the region of funk rock, but this is too dark and krauty for that. The propulsive scuzziness of it kind of brings to mind a less showy Poison Arrows (whose last album is well worth tracking down). After the opening couple of rock tracks, the third one, a dramatic reworking of Pink Floyd's 'On The Run', is much more synth-led, but still with pounding live drums pinning it all down. On the other side, at the other speed, we've got a remix of a song from their album called 'Fall', which is a snail's pace late night throbber with minimal and repetitive tendencies and lots of echo on the drums and a Berlin techno feel. This is a much more varied and rewarding disc than I was expecting. Good job, lads.

The Oscillation present a new EP close on the heels of their second album "Veils" (ATL004). The title track is a remake of the swaggering b-music rock 'n' roll epic taken from the album - "Fall (Crawling Mix) " is extended and re-gritted in a way that departs from the original in a more dancefloor direction. "Braindrainer" is a brand new track, an instrumental juggernaut of motorik power that is bursting with chaotic energy. "On The Run" channels the spirit of Pink Floyd and twists it into a brooding kosmische pulse. This track was recently feaured on the MOJO magazine "Dark Side Of The Moon" cover CD along with other remakes of classic Floyd by The Orb, Beak, Wolf People, John Foxx and more. Last but by no means least The Emperor Machine, aka Andy Meecham, has reworked "Telepathic Birdman" into a truly remarkable no-wave dancefloor classic. Perhaps something like Liquid Liquid and PiL would have sounded sharing a stage in early 80's New York, Meecham has stripped back the original, allowing the thunderous bass full control to drive things along, adding trademark flourishes of analogue synthesizer and percussion. A limited run of 300 copies..

Be the first to review this record. Best reviewer each month gets £10 off their next order!