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Figurine
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The Heartfelt
March Records
Release: 2/22/2005
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Rated:
Review by:
Jefferson Davis
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Figurine's most recent release, The Heartfelt, is
a cornucopia of genre's subtly interwoven like a boondoggle
keychain consisting of as many as three separate colors:
trip-hop, pet-shop-pop, and the elusive Sony keyboard
"Booty Bass" preset. The finished product comes off a little
undersupplied but special in its own way; it's something that
might exist on the fringe of the dance/techno, rave genre
with some success.
Figurine's fresh approach to techno, for lack of a better
term, seems unique, and I think that the ladies in particular
might really enjoy this record; it's a little softer and varies
widely from the incessant rhythmic barrage of traditional
techno/dance beats. Admittedly, this is a genre I don't
typically get into, but I get the sense that Figurine has
something meaningful to offer fans of current dance, pop,
and/or 80's mod music.
A combination of male and female voices throughout the
album offers a successfully executed range of dynamics that
texture the album nicely. The vocals, however successful
texturally, hang loosely in a mono-robotic fashion that at
times is depressing and at other times struggles to find
musical direction.
Much of Figurine's music was compiled in various cities in
California through a long-distance digital network of college
students and their Sanyo's. This particular record's music
was written six years ago and the music sounds dated,
cheap, and even sadly insufficient considering the current
high quality of music technology available to artists these
days. 90 percent of the time the music is reminiscent of an
Atari video game. Choose one, Pitfall, Asteroids, Donkey
Kong. The other 10 percent of the time it sounds like preset
keyboard loops. They've managed to do something with
these sounds, so I won't hold it against them since I know
the financial pressures of being a college student and an
artist. If nothing else it's a creative and resourceful approach
that should be applauded rather than scoffed.
Overall it's not my thing, but I enjoyed it and I appreciate
their effort to do something a little off the beaten path. You
should buy this album if, and only if, you dig the Pet Shop
Boys, need a break from beat-centric dance/techno, or just
want to shake up your collection a bit. |
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