Chevron: Lifeshake: 8.2/10
Lifeshake is a Wildly Colorful Electronic Album
This is another album I just happened to stumble upon. Someone at my school had turned me on to a couple of Chevron songs, so I just decided to check this album out. That's the thing though: this is not really an album, at least not in the traditional sense. Jonathan Valentine's career was abruptly ended, thus initially canceling this project. Valentine is a hard working musician who specializes in the areas of experimental more IDM electronic creations. He has released an album and a couple EPs to critical acclaim, but suddenly this spring of new music from Valentine just stopped. Perhaps he was working too hard and just grew tired or maybe he just needed to start over under a different alias. I'm not entirely sure either way, but I do know that the mere existence of this project is pretty cool. This album has been described as an "approximation" of what the album would have sounded like, which I think shows just how precise Valentine likes to make his work. Saying this is an approximation is pretty much saying that he would have added many more instruments/layers onto the tracks on here, but this thing is already loaded with layered instrumentation and complex, catchy rhythms. Basically what I am saying is this "approximation" is better than most electronic albums I hear today.
The album starts out with The Ballad of Rave which takes the listener on a journey. This song is filled with so many different colors, while still maintaining a fun, party-like atmosphere to it. This song definitely sets the tempo for the record, and it is truly a treat. The Ballad of Rave is not the only "banger" on the album. The album also has two more amazingly fun yet intricate songs entitled "Soul Cellar" and "Bangalore Torpedoes" these songs display arrhythmic rhythms, but still keep you dancing. Bangalore Torpedoes is a favorite of mine because the layers fit together so nicely, and I really think that the computerized drums and synths blend together beautifully. This album isn't just filled with club electronic music. It also includes elements of electronic glitch music. This is music that is kind of wandering but still has a powerful punchy sound to it at points, similarly to a DVD or CD that is glitching. Regardless, Free exemplifies this the best. Free kind of just wanders around and repeats itself in a very mystical way, it's almost as if the song is just repeating itself over, but in a good way. Breytingar is another glitch track, but I do not like this song at all. Its repetitive nature does not feel as natural as free for me. This album also blends cultural instruments into it, most notably on Sitari ST where a Sitar plays over electronic grooves. It works better than you may think, but it does drag on way too long. While this album does have a lot to offer, I do not think it is always executed to its best. I think that sometimes the grouping of tracks hurts the album. It goes from fast/club, slow/glitch/, to sad/emotional. While the grouping can be cool, it also hurts the album for me. I think that the track listing should have been more intertwined with its variety of tracks. Also I think that some songs do not move past their initial idea. Sitari ST was probably the best example. The song kind of just loses my attention after a while, and that is truly unfortunate.
Still this is a great record! The last 3 songs, while being electronic, are so human. I feel so much emotion in these songs, and I can understand why this record would have been hard too make. This album is best described by its album cover. It is truly just a palette of colors! There is so much going at any given time, and there will be certainly be something for you on here. Overall while this record had its slow moments, I certainly continue listening, and I will encourages others to do so as well.
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