Sometimes forward looking. Sometimes retrospective. Sometimes a bit too Indie. This 2LP is a generous medley of established and upcoming talent. A well-rounded record with a lot for the electronically minded to mull over.
Sometimes reviewing a record can be tricky. Finding the time. Knuckling down to writing it. Checking. Proofreading. Checking. But sometimes the Postal Service can be the problem. This was the case with Electric Voice’s 2LP compilation. Electric Voice is a Canadian record label with a focus on the sounds of Minimal Synth, New Wave and Post Punk. In 2012 Electric Voice Compilation brought together some of the established names of the aforementioned sounds alongside some new groups.
The album is a plunge into a swirling pool of genres. Ariel Pink and Stevie Moore come together for the pop indigestion of “Dutch Me” which sounds like a V/Vm take on “The Sun Always Shine.” Synthesizer duet Jeff & Jane Hudson offer up “Strand” before Soft Metals deliver melting Industrial lamentations. One of the jewels of the LP is the icy Synth Wave of Bernardino Femminielli and “A Que Quieres Jugar” which is cascading piece of analogue pop. Confused House pioneers Innergaze are present with clanking sounds of “Machine Speak.” A spread of upcoming artists pepper the LP, the likes of Grand Trine, Colors and Catbag, with the latter recently releasing an LP on Electric Voice. Chevalier Avant Garde serve up the excellent “For Phaedra”, a soft and warming piece of retrospective Indie Wave. The KVB have just been picked up by Minimal Wave’s Cititrax for a full album, here they push their dense metallic Darkwave sound. Red Horrid closes with an assortment of angst and string.
Electric Voice has a growing catalog and an ambitious outlook. This first compilation, the second is on the way, is a complex cross section of the imprint. New Wave, Minimal Synth, Post Punk and the myriad of musical sub-genres that orbit these sounds are present. Raw in parts, comforting in others. Sometimes forward looking. Sometimes retrospective. Sometimes a bit too Indie. This 2LP is a generous medley of established and upcoming talent. A well-rounded record with a lot for the electronically minded to mull over.
Electric Voice Compilation is available on Electric Voice. [Release page]
