Husky Rescue "Country Falls"
Husky Rescue "Country Falls" (2005)
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mp3 / vbr kbps / 74.1mb / serrip
Label: Catskills Records
Producer: Marko Nyberg
Tracks: 12 (check: Amazon)
i dont think ive ever heard of a record like this. and i really mean it when i say this.
right from the opening track, the country (?!!) influence is put upfront, as if to say "yes, this is country!" in a manner that's everything but discreet. nothing new and relatively expected for those people who actually know husky rescue's story - when i first heard of the album, even before i press play, all i know about it, is that it's being pigeon-holed as folk/electronica. and 'folk-electronica' to me (right up until i heard this very record, that is) has been pretty much predictable, regardless of how avant-garde it attempts to be.
i am not a fan of country music (including its associated variants and/or blends) but producer and multi-instrumentalist extravaganza marko nyberg managed to make it almost listenable for people like me. evil - for making me enjoy it's country influences, yet effective - because i find myself wanting to hear more and more sounds, out of curiosity of how the record progresses throughout, as each track evolves into the next one. pure evil.
earlier tracks on this album tantalise you with the smooth vocal whimpers of reeta-leena korhola and emma salokoski, coupled with cliche atmospheric pads and pseudo-retro synth presets (these seems to be the only elements that qualified the record to have its 'electronica' stamp). the rest of the instrumentations, although how synthetic one might argue they actually are, are rather organic - a trait that the record struggles to maintain, but nonetheless passable enough to carry a credible sense of audio-traditionalism - the 'era before protools'.
while the rest of the current industry look up so highly upon the abovementioned near-extinct era, this record at the same time managed to bring out the oh-so-ignorant cut-and-pastiness beautifully. just enough to keep the post-modernists out there happy, while stroking their chins. brilliant: target both of the industry extremes.
in the present time where chillout / lofi is predominantly (pseudo) jazz, i could almost understand nyberg's need to do his own evolutionary part for his love of this genre, with something distinctive, if not 'distinctively him'. beautifully architected music landscapes complete with ready-for-arthouse-movies ambient sounds, subtly-evolving chord progressions, smart blends of electronic and acoustic drums, deep obviously-blues guitar influences; are all arguably rare characteristics in this style. of course, we wont include wagon christ or stereolab's (impressive) catalogue. that'd just be blasphemy.
dont get me wrong, jazz tendencies are still present in this record, but after listening to this record once over, you get a feeling of eclecticism in the album as a whole - but not for long. the tracks caress you slowly and by the second disc repeat, that very feeling starts to go away. as if subliminally brainwashing you to caress the tracks back (if you havent already) and that this record has always been familiar sounding - and it's slowly coming back to you like remembering a distant childhood memory.
nyberg's linear sequencing style makes his record addictive, unlike most modern chillout productions where ironically, minimalism is sometimes too overbearing. i think this style contributed to the cinematic mood that's present here, probably feeding mr. nyberg's perverse secret deep love for film music. making filmscoring-styled music work on a cd record is risky business: i mean, how would you create music for a mood of a particular picture, *without* actually having pictures, and still relay its original intended mood? if you ask me, the subjectivity of instrumental cd music has to be mr nyberg's biggest advocate here.
husky rescue's tracks in this album shine best with reeta-leena's performance. female vocalists always give that certain edge in chillout records. male ones? unless you're cleveland watkiss or jose gonzales, forget about it. though, vocals dont seem to get marko's utmost attention here, but this could be intended to preserve the 'lofi'-ness of this record. that said - to me, modern producers tend to have this 'biasness' towards either the instrumentations or the vocals, and it really shows - where in most cases if they are adventurous with their instrument tracking, chances are they wont be with vocals. i dont know if thats a good thing or not in modern music productions today.
this record redefined my perspective on the phrase 'cross-genre' in its contemporary sense and somehow triggered a love i never had for e-bows. weird. the production is addictive, regardless whether you think this album works or not.
posted by stereo|state @ 6:18 AM
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