(08.20.06) I’m suffering from a bit of a disconnect on the first few listens to
Emulsion’s new release. Nathan Koch’s project has gone from trawling
dark subterranean places to being gravity-free and solar-charged.
Blue Sky Objective is an 8-bit love affair with pretty, shining
things. Reminiscent of Solvent’s electro-candy and jangly Game Boy
melodies, Emulsion’s work is flush with child-like simplicity and
innocence glee.
In “Smeared Bus Window,” tiny melodies chime and cascade like sunlight
on water while tiny hands make tinier clapping sounds. “King of 1998”
gutters with a straight-on beat, a gritty drum kit playing out in the
backyard while a pair of youngsters pile on chords from small organs.
It is like eight-year-olds doing a rock show for the dog and maybe the
neighbourhood stray cat and, after a minute and a half, their attention
span wanders off to other things. “Ukidama” is similarly brief, a
glowing melody that rises up towards a twilight sky where a few stars
are twinkling.
With its winsome synthesizers and dour undercurrent, “All Robots Are
on Sale!” mixes both the elation of a fast-paced commercial
environment with the melancholic drift of separation. Robots are
selling briskly, marching smartly out the door in time with the drum
kit and metallic hand-claps, but they’re all a little uncertain about
their futures. Will they find nice homes? Will they work in strip
mines or waffle factories? They’re happy to serve, to have purpose,
but they go with a little apprehension. “Tweeism” is a bit of lounge
fluff, a torch song for an 8-bit diva who disappears when she turns
sideways; while the glitch percussion of “Shapes and Colors” gambols
like an old man shot full of Cortisone. Behind him, a bank of water
fountains shoot multi-hued streams into the air, firing off in
precision concert. An orchestra of children dressed in taffeta play
kid-sized plastic instruments…okay, now I’m making shit up. But
Emulsion’s music sends me there without any effort.
Koch succeeds admirably in his “pie in the sky” objective of making
music filled with carefree enthusiasm and the wanton wistfulness of
childhood. Blue Sky Objective is winsome without being
saccharine, innocent without a hint of guile or cynicism, and the sort
of thing that will crack a smile in a stone.
Blue Sky Objective is out now on Lens. Buy it at Amazon.com.
