(August 2010) Out of the synth wave scene of Brooklyn arrives a newcomer, Neud Photo. There isn’t a vast amount of information available about this artist. He has played at the Wierd nights in NYC and appears to have set up his own label to get his sound out: Custom Craft Records. The LP, Synthetics, gives away little as well bar an info sheet with a list of vintage synthesizers and drum machines used in the record and Nico D. being the brains behind the operation. So what has this mysterious figure got to say on this LP?
The record opens with the brief “Automat” before getting into the meat of “Internal Landscapes” an aural dreamscape of heady synthlines and twilight sounds. The sonorous mist remains with “Sulphur ‘n Cylinder.” Distant vocoders hide behind shifting analogue sounds and beats, with some production haze remaining. “Isolated Incident” sees the A-Side come to a close with a punchy synthline reverberating into bass with some abstraction thrown in for good measure. The B-Side comes to life with the ominous notes of “Utility”. Thick analogue bars are shot across with space lines and a 606 holding up the rearguard. “Semiotics” come up next with a glitched up beat poured over 70s synthesizer tones, a melt of industrial and space. A soundtrack element lies across the record, but the B-Side seems to truly realise it. A new epic aspect seeps in, pushing synths and hardware to see what is capable. “Suspension” follows, a slow sheer wall meets the listen. Tempos are reduced to a minimum as experimentation into orbit patterns begins. Neud Photo leaves the tethers of earth behind, taking the listener on a bleak cold journey. “Periods”, a collaboration piece with M. Pscherer closes the record. Drone and melody lie side by side with vocals meshing into vocoders as aural walls are raised and razed into lulling corridors of synth.
Neud Photo mentions a number of influences. John Carpenter, Italo, Ensemble Pittoresque, J.G. Ballard, Lacan, Language, the Unconscious and Space. Where Italo fits into this LP I’m not sure but the rest perch nicely on the vinyl grooves. ‘Synthetics’ is as much a piece of vintage analogue abstraction as it is a trip into the wood panelled and knob adorned machines of Neud Photo. This is a synth record that plumbs the depths, looking to soundtracks and early electronics for inspiration. There is a cerebral aspect to the pieces as they pull the listener into a darker mindset. Neud Photo may be toeing the lines of the minimal synth scene, but his sound does not fall into the genre’s limits. Like a postmodern author, Neud Photo has cherry picked what sounds he wants. Unlike the postmodern writer his art isn’t being tapped out on the most modern equipment, but on classic vintage machinery.
Synthetics is out now on Custom Craft.
