Can we finally be honest with each other? By this I mean, let’s accept the fact that: Most modern artists expect to never have to deal with criticism, not because they’re averse to it but because they’ve never had to deal with it in the first place and wouldn’t know it if they saw it. What does that mean for someone like me, who started delving into this madness around the turn of the century, back when everything didn’t get a four-star review (on this site and on every site) and rather than tell you about what’s good we, as reviewers, were charged with telling you what’s good but also what’s bad. That’s a key difference, and I can’t personally even remember the last time I trashed a band. These days I just avoid the shitty stuff because there’s too much out there; shining a light on the dregs only wastes valuable time as we hurtle ourselves at the void that is our inevitable death. Persona La Ave occupy a specific spot in the deep-Web universe, and have probably never been ill-reviewed. And while I definitely DON’T love Makonnen (bet you didn’t see THAT coming) I can tolerate what Temptation/Relation is attempting to achieve because it goes about its future-funk-in-the-age-of-robots-inculcated-with-strange-whiffs-of-hypnagogia with extreme care and skill. A lot of it sounds like a strange workout video from the 80s to me, but then again at least half of the videos we premiere on this very site sound like that to me so we’ll just have to deal with it. I think the extra ingredient that gets lost in the shuffle is the soul invested in this quirky, kooky material. It’s quite earnest and you can intrinsically sense the whole package means a lot to both the artist and the label (in this case I know this from experience, as MJMJ isn’t a label that will let you ignore it, never a bad thing!). I wish I had more for you on this one; the Persona La Ave machine is extremely well-oiled, and as a result I feel like it doesn’t need my lube as much as others do. Still, see that this un-squeaky wheel gets a little more grease, as I’ve listened to Temptation/Relation over and over and liked it a little more each time. That’s kind of what this whole thing is about…