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Review Summary: artist moniker/cover art/album synergy Narkopop is the coldest of ecosystems, the most impenetrable of woodlands. There is no space for any other colour here but the eerie blue of its cover art. Not the exultation of bright yellow, nor the subtle comfort of emerald green, nor the urgency of blood red. From the dawn of the first track (and it does dawn, more than anything) until the end of the album, the orchestration is underscored by the most ominous of atmospheres, ebbing and flowing above the record’s faint pulse.
It’s a constant that begins to feel soporific at around the 15-minute mark, but the record is self-aware, injecting itself with subtle differences before you slip out of its reach completely. Narkopop 5’s industrial one-two-three marching snare is the sort of production choice that pushes this sense of foreboding much closer to its listener. Here, the fear captured is no longer of the unknown, but of something tangible.
In this forest of deep and relentless blue, the precipitous synth-stabs and ephemeral drone loops are manifestations of the cold air or some distant stream of water that never stops, but snakes in and out of our field of perception. As a result, these sounds are difficult to pin down. If there are chord progressions here, they are dismantled, stretched out and buried under swathes of reverb so that they may exist as textures, as feelings, then they drop off into a ravine. So too does the record's penchant for gloomy, nebulous soundscapes uphold its uniformity. In this, we forget how far off the beaten path we have traveled, and the volume rises and swirls around us until a plucked harp or a lonely piano offers momentary pause. These pieces bleed into each other, then they bleed into these thoughts we have when the outside world is silent.
In the spirit of ambient music, these are not songs. They are environments, transmitted through your speakers/headphones until there are traces of them in your living room. It’s winter already where I live, but it feels more pronounced as I listen to Narkopop, like frost could start accumulating along the walls and windows. It’s immersion at its most alienating, you shouldn’t be here, Narkopop says. But here you are, venturing further into the forest, and growing used to its temperament.
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Album Rating: 3.5
An intriguing review for an intriguing album! I thought that it kinda dragged on for a bit too long sometimes though. I feel like Pop was much better, but it's really satisfying to see him do the complete opposite of what he did on that record about 17 years later.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
thanks, you're too kind. i'm only just getting into ambient but i feel like it matters less in this genre if something drags bc - as its more about atmosphere - it feels like the type of thing you can just turn off when you feel like it... if that makes sense hahah. thanks again!
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
this is pre good.
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Yeah man, no problem. But yeah, I do get what you mean by that. But in my opinion, the final track on this record doesn't justify its length. Ya know, if you're gonna make a single track drag on for that long, at least make the sound change a LITTLE bit with some varied instrumentation and/or ambiance.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
3.5 yikes, this is beautiful
Especially the 5th and last track
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
yeah. 5th is my favourite too
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Yikes? I ain't giving it a 2/5 or anything. :v
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
No I meant the average
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
narkopopped my cherry
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Oooooh, I see. Yeah, it got alot more low ratings then I expected it to get.
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
this is some solid stuff
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Agreed.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off
enjoyed the review, you have a great sense for imagery. would've liked to see some discussion situating the record in the context of his discog but I guess there's ample writing about that elsewhere
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Oh yeah. Gas is pretty well known in the ambient music community. You're guaranteed to find something like that.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
thanks lucid! ((::
would've been difficult this time around as i've only heard one other Wolfgang album, but i'll keep discog in mind for when i'm writing about other records in the future
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
I feel like this thing is largely overrated. If he had dropped the incessant, redundant bass-thumps, focused a little more on texture and tone, chiselled some of the longer tracks down to more concise lengths, and eliminated track 4 all-together, this definitely could have been one of the best albums of the year.
Nice review, as well. Writing about vague ambient music is very difficult, and while it's short, via your use of aforementioned imagery, you definitely pulled it off. I think you were a little bit too kind to this thing in neglecting its many flaws, but that's just my opinion.
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Been digging Pop so I'll have to check this.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
thanks kyle! i'll try to think more critically in future
still fleshing out what i like/don't like about ambient as a whole, i appreciate the advice though (:
| | | Album Rating: 3.0
Well if you're up for a recommendation, my favourite ambient artist would have to be Tim Hecker, if you don't already know him. His whole discography is great, but I've found his 2006 album, Harmony In Ultraviolet to be his best over the years. Ravedeath, 1972 is a close second.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
will check right now, thanks heaps
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