An adventurous, inspired, contemplative, and crushing collection of sweet electronic sounds that transport the listener through a maze of piano keys, minimal glitch extracts, and moody ambient rhythms. Welcome back KiloWatts!
Jamie Watts (aka KiloWatts) returns after 5-yrs (Seven Succulents described as “probably KiloWatts’ most accomplished work to date, an impressive achievement given his uniformly excellent back catalog,” Sympathetic Vibrations takes an academic path of piano technology, a way of resonating with his ailing father who passed away in 2016, and to explore the characteristics of a single piano note. The temperature of this album is raised ever so slightly in order to make room for encapsulating piano keys that ever so gently drift by.
A breath of fresh air and a carefully executed album as a whole, “Devotion,” for example, delivers various piano keys and vividly resonates—a swell of microscopic glitch fragments and an emotional slice of life, this piece alone ventures into softer bass notes and alluring melodic loops of beauty.
To say that KiloWatts maneuvers sound like very few do would be an understatement—his sense of calm, composure, and liquid rhythms evoke a natural sound design style. Tracks like “Degeneration,” “Legacy,” and “The Story Unfolding” (with Samuel Wexler) wisp by like strands of lost memories as acrobatic beats flutter about with their own vibratory signature. “Big Monster” blends similar ivory keys and growling bass to enrich the mind. An atmospheric drone magnetically inhabits “Between Two Worlds” (with Pointbender)—its sonic foray through space and solace is in tune with the mood of this album.
An adventurous, inspired, contemplative, and crushing collection of sweet electronic sounds that transport the listener through a maze of piano keys, minimal glitch extracts, and moody ambient rhythms. Welcome back KiloWatts!
Sympathetic Vibrations is available on KiloWatts Music.
