 | Tracklist:
1. 3 Hours
2. Common Exchange
3. Professional Loving
4. Be My Guest
5. Count Backwards
6. Double Edge
7. Pretend
8. The Long Goodbye
9. FM Attention
10. Drop The Other
11. Come Catch Me
12. Credit Theme
Release Date: 10/03/2011 | |
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On 18 Lists
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| Summary: Shockingly cathartic and frigid, but also shockingly brilliant, Emika's long awaited debut is a thing of fragile and, at times, dazed beauty |
Unstable might just be the best way to describe Emika's self-titled debut, and perhaps the artist as well. As her thoughts briefly chime in over the litany of clattering bass and broken beats you get a clear sense that perhaps not all is right here, that what may lie at the bottom of this particular rabbit hole might, in fact, bite back. And it's that kind of disguised and perceived violence that makes Emika such an intriguing listen, like watching a car crash unfold from a safe distance. That she might snap and start screaming the paint off the walls at any given moment remains perhaps the driving force of this album, even more so than the mysterious beats that frame her damaged psyche. These beats, owing just as much to dubstep as to that mysterious darkwave inspired collective of individuals referred to by lesser minds as witch house, are just as on the fringe as their master; they're frantic and loose, shivering and disturbed. They don't so much as shine as they seem to exist in their own little world, their own orbit. They're creepy and sinister, drenched in psychotic sweat and dripping with malevolence.
While opener '3 Hours' starts off as a kind of robotic pop contraption, it swaps the obvious futurist ideal for something bordering more on the gothic as it spins a fractured take on lo-fi techno. Recent single 'Professional Loving' is more brooding and unrelenting, beginning in an innocent stupor before drinking itself crazy under a cloud of murky bass that come the end threatens to rise up and engulf the music box melody; which leads right into 'Be My Guest', an instrumental piece equally disturbed with its restless shakiness and disturbed bass. Both 'Count Backwards' and 'Double Edge' return here still retaining both their potency, with the former an initially soothing slow-burner of chainsaw melodies and ghostly musings. The latter is perhaps the most obvious attempt at normality, the clipped beats a touch more sublime as Emika touches on the indefinable and inescapable, the unseen ghosts and rumors that populate her world. 'Pretend' is another demented twist on the dancefloor niche, still more hellcat than heavenly inviting though.
Which perhaps is the perfect summary for this album; it's alluring for all the wrong reasons, and seems to be comprised of all the things we don't wish to talk about. Yes, it's dark and at times frighteningly cold, but like a bandaged doll it still seems to yearn for attention and love. It's shockingly cathartic and frigid, but also shockingly brilliant. Be it the furious pounding bass of the dubstep angle she toys with, or the amorphous dark ambient she seems to wallow in, whatever led you to Emika's debut LP will also leave you breathless.
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| Recent reviews by this author | | | |
Professional Loving: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxXS6WbO1HY
Double Edge: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlS6Uy4-Re8&feature=related
3 Hours: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hd2Ogts9ZXQ
Digging: Amon Tobin - Amon Tobin Digging: Amon Tobin - Amon Tobin
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
Will definitively check this out. Her remix of Tobin's Surge was pretty neat. Did not know she had a
debut coming this year. Also pos'd.
Edit: Listened to the tracks and this sounds really good. Thanks for shedding some light on the album
Dev.
Digging: Japandroids - Celebration Rock | | |
No probs, had a feeling she'd go unnoticed here otherwise
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Never heard of her. Sounds amazing.
Digging: El-P - Cancer For Cure Digging: El-P - Cancer For Cure
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Rules etc
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They're creepy and sinister, drenched in psychotic sweat and dripping with malevolence
This gets me excited
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Both of your reviews have no period in the summary. Intentional?
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this is exactly what i have been searching the internet for, thanks for reviewing this! checked out the songs and this is great stuff. definitely going to get this
Digging: In Mourning - The Weight of Oceans Digging: In Mourning - The Weight of Oceans
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My summaries hardly ever have periods in them
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didn't think this would be my sort of thing but so far i'm liking it. it's so cold and broken, but still oddly intimate
Digging: Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - Pamyu Pamyu Revolution Digging: Kyary Pamyu Pamyu - Pamyu Pamyu Revolution
| | | Album Rating: 4
Dev would I like this? I cant load those youtube videos right now. I'll be able to later tonight but for now, do you think I'd dig this?
Digging: Hop Along - Get Disowned Digging: Hop Along - Get Disowned | | |
http://www.cooltoons2.com/agu/stills/emica.jpg
Digging: Every Time I Die - Ex Lives Digging: Every Time I Die - Ex Lives
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Definitely going to check this one out!
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Worth a check Aids
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
This is surprising me, I think I'm going to have to get it.
Digging: Lemuria (BE) - Tales, Ale, and Fire Digging: Lemuria (BE) - Tales, Ale, and Fire | | |
Come Catch Me ftw
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8]
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
"3 Hours" is amazing, as is "Double Edge."
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i really need to get this.
Digging: Buckethead - Shadows Between The Sky Digging: Buckethead - Shadows Between The Sky
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Good to see people are digging this
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