Review Summary: Retro styles and his usual antics make MessFX's latest releases one of his best.
MessFX is one of those House artists that seems to get better and better with each release. I saw signs of real potential after
No Shame regaled me with it's singular beats, intricate layering, and idiosyncratic tone and rhythm. With
Little Star the seeds of greatness were firmly planted. While I still consider
Little Star his best work, his latest record
Motherboard is not far behind.
Motherboard largely places itself within the timing of the mid 90's House scene. From the uptempos, synth nodes, and almost dreamlike loops of beats and rhythms; the album taps into the exciting age of the mid to late 90's, when the internet was just beginning to grow and the possibilities were endless. One of the biggest examples is in
DAEMONS, which starts off with heavy clicking that was prevalent in those old 90's keyboards. One of his finest outings is in
DOWNLOAD_FILE？ which starts with a heavy base noise as it then begins to include a singular beat that changes the tempo of the song entirely. It is through that seamless transition that any of MessFX's songs can change at the drop of a hat.
ZOMBIE_EXECUTE_TROJAN adds a much more modern beat to the album, including hard percussion sequences, random out of rhythm interludes, and his usual "change tempo mid-song" antics.
The beauty in Motherboard lies in how shamelessly gimmicky the whole thing is. The beats are carefully constructed almost as both a tribute to and a parody of 1990's House music; yet MessFX does so not out of malice, but of admiration for the craft itself. In
REFORMAT one can almost pinpoint the random tempo and beat changes that was a staple of 90's DJ's who played compilations of their tracks as one whole song. One could almost feel that this retro styling might alienate those who are not fans of that specific era of music. I would say it does not.
To be fair, MessFX crafts
Motherboard's sounds with the stylings of the 90's, but does so with the heart of the modern day. Now more than ever, Retro is becoming the dominant style as many artists attempt to replicate and admire bygone eras of music. With this in mind,
Motherboard is more relevant than ever.
COOKIES is a fine example of the modern talents MessFX possesses, containing heavy echoes with minimalist beats and a short timestamp, staples of modern House music today.
With
Motherboard, MessFX finds himself within his prime, achieving some of his most complete, balanced, and realized works. His latest record is brimming with imagination, inventiveness, and heart. Every track has a part to play in
Motherboard and, in House music, that is rule #1.
