We’re clearly still infatuated with the sound of synthesizers. Plus, it’s refreshing to hear album-long explorations that don’t involve drums or guitars chugging away in the background. Even though these synthetic tones have been bubbling around for 40 years, fully realized records prominently featuring synthesizers are still novel. There’s still the “ohhh” and “ahhh” of Wendy Carlos’ Switched on Bach records, where listeners were hooked with thoughts like “I didn’t know electronics could do that!”
Of course, this is all changing. Red Electric Rainbow’s Dark Days reveals a mastery of his Nord Lead 2 put to dramatic and dynamic use. “Pleasure Machine” is like a cosmic lullaby, employing more high end, crystalline sounds than we’re used to with great effect. But notice the harmonic range on the song… in fact, most of Dark Days is built around shifting chords (albeit with lots of arpeggios streaming overhead), but it’s all consonant, pretty, and fairly standard. Judge for yourself if he’s getting a free pass based on the novelty of ‘bubbly synth’ sounds.
• Red Electric Rainbow: http://redelectricrainbow.tumblr.com/
• Aguirre Records: http://www.aguirrecords.com/Shop/index.php?route=product/product&product…
