"This could be everything we wanted..."
As someone who spends a good amount of time exploring the seemingly endless depths of experimental music, I often feel that I have heard most everything of what the scene (if it can be called a scene) has to offer. Over just the course of a few years, I have grown utterly unsurprised when even the most “abstract” or “progressive” ideas quickly and unfailingly become formulaic and cliché. Fortunately, there is every so often an artist that comes along who is able to inspire and re-awaken my senses, one that reminds me that my journey has merely just begun. Justin Gray & The USB Orchestra, the experimental solo-project of Amok Recordings’ founder Justin Gray, is one such artist who I can confidently say has inspired me with his latest release, I am ok.
Daring, adventurous and uncompromisingly honest, I am ok is an experimental album in the truest sense of the term. Patient, lingering guitar melodies and glitch electronics form the general foundation of the tracks, while creative percussion and subtle-yet-unpredictable vocals add further layers of mystery to the mix. Gray’s vocal style is perhaps the strangest aspect of the music, but it is also arguably the most fascinating. Captivating abstract lyrics are delivered in a diverse number of ways, ranging from inaudible whispers to anguished screams.
All in all, the album’s unpredictability is ultimately the key to its success. Just when it seems that things are doomed to drone on in incessant whispering and guitar-fiddling, Gray throws a tasty up-beat groove right in our face to make sure we’re still awake and listening. What’s more, the album also manages to sound absolutely unlike anything else I’ve heard, effectively scoring huge points for originality.
While he may not be a distinguished expert musician, what Gray lacks in conventional music technique he more than makes up for with his unrestrained and open-minded approach to composition, not to mention his passionate lyricism. The album’s intensely free-form character will most likely alienate casual listeners, but anyone seriously interested in experimental music should make it a priority to give Justin Gray a listen.
I am ok is available for FREE DOWNLOAD from Amok Recordings.
| Reviewer: Sean Butze Added: May 6th 2008 |
|
