Eric Kowalski is Casino Versus Japan. It’s beyond me why he refers to himself as this because he was born in Wisconsin and we all know that there is virtually no gambling in that state. Whatever his reason may be you have to show this guy some respect. While in college instead of attending class Kowalski would practice the piano which is coincidentally his main weapon on
Whole Numbers Play the Basics. This man wanted to make music so bad that he learned some basic guitar and drum skills to accompany his piano work. He grew interested in electronic music and let his drum/guitar/piano skills go to work regardless of how minimal they were at the time.
Electronica can mean so many different things to so many different people. To give you a vague idea of Kowalski’s music it is extremely similar to Boards of Canada. He’ll kick things off with a simple beat and then elaborate on it at least three to six times per song. The music has a very dreamy, shadowy type of atmosphere and if you decide to listen to the album with headphones you will be able to experience these multiple textures. It almost seems like Kowalski is just sitting next to a few air conditioners. He turns on the first one, waits a few minutes then proceeds to turn on the next one etc. Throughout the song he will manage to throw in some sparkling keyboard synths to give the sound a more vibrant feel.
I have to admit, this formula wears thin throughout the course of the album. There are five songs under two minutes long and surprisingly enough they are the most interesting and deep textured songs off of the album. The longer songs usually last from four to six minutes and they focus on airy beats and dense keyboard effects. The big problem with this is that Kowalski doesn’t add enough spice to the music and the lengthier tracks tend to drone on for way to long leaving you with a long misty feel that doesn’t really take you anywhere.
Whole Numbers Play the Basics is the type of album that you can kick back to and just let your ears absorb the keyboard twinkles along with the trippy beats.
There is one aspect about Kowalski’s work that I enjoy the most and that is how he makes you feel as if you’re in another place. The loud, echoing beats on
Moonlupe put you in a trance and if you close you’re eyes it will almost paralyze you. The downside is that you are sucked out of this trance because it just runs at one and a half minutes long.
You Were There displays some calm, video game keyboard effects over a shuddering beat. If you listen closely you can hear a heavy rainstorm in the background creating beautiful imagery. Weather you chose to listen to this album with headphones or not a few of these ambient gems will force you to stop and just absorb the sound.
Summer Clip executes this idea perfectly. It’s without a doubt the most distorted and experimental song off the album. The funky and sloppy beats play over some erratic keyboard playing creating an extremely dense and zany feel.
The three songs that I just mentioned are obvious highlights, but what about the rest of the album? I have mixed opinions because I find
Whole Numbers Play the Bascis to be a consistent yet monotonous listening experience.
Making Lake Park in the Sun is the fuzziest and most space influenced song off of the album, but Kowalski fails to turn on enough air conditioners and the atmosphere has a boisterous and staticky tone without enough spunk or direction. Next up is
Manic Thru Tone and it sounds like some muffled lawn mowers over an eerie keyboard scale for a whopping four and a half minutes. The song posses’s a haunting feel and puts you in sort of on odd and scary situation but once again Kowalski isn’t quick enough and he lets things drag on for to long. On the contrary the albums opener
Single Variation of Two has the same spacey feel but is very well written. Right when things start to slow down a high pitched vibrating keyboard effect is used over some heavy beats. The song goes through many beat and rhythm changes keeping the listener guessing and waiting anxiously to see what comes next. Of course you can’t have an official electronica album without that one, random filler track.
The Possible Light happens to be that song and it’s just some keyboard dynamics over a piercing beat/riff type thing.
Whole Numbers Play the Basics contains some ambient, soothing electronic gems but it also has some long, drawn out droning songs that don’t do much.
While
Whole Numbers Play the Basics isn’t an album that you should run out to the store and purchase immediately it is still a good listen if you enjoy ambient/electronica. The music gets boring and dull throughout certain stretches in the album but Kowalski has created a couple of gems saving the album from being a forgotten waste. Don’t get me wrong, there are many well written keyboard driven songs but some of the longer tracks really hold the album back and make it seem longer then it actually is. Those long hours that Kowalski spent playing the piano have finally paid off for he has successfully created a soothing, dreamy, and somewhat rowdy album.
