The other week I praised
Sour Soul for sounding like a movie, but this largely-instrumental electronic
epic, The Mainframe, really could be a Hollywood movie score.
It’s creator is Joker, a Bristolian producer and a pioneer of a music genre called purple – a melodic take on dubstep that blends bassy abrasive wubs with nostalgic 90s-inspired synths.
It’s creator is Joker, a Bristolian producer and a pioneer of a music genre called purple – a melodic take on dubstep that blends bassy abrasive wubs with nostalgic 90s-inspired synths.
Purple derives it’s name from the effect it has on some music
listeners with chromesthesia – a cool psychological condition that causes
people to associate certain sounds with colours. Different genres of music,
keys and tones allegedly cause people to see different colours. Artists such as
Kanye West, Stevie Wonder, Frank Ocean and Pharrell Williams all claim to be
magically gifted with the condition.
 |
| A colour chart made by people who can not just hear but also see musical notes. |
Joker’s second album, The
Mainframe, sees the artist expanding on his signature purple style. It
feels less purple this time round and more rainbow
(can that be a new genre?). The sounds and contrasts are more diverse and more intense.
There are orchestral strings this time round and every synth texture imaginable.
Subtlety has taken a backseat. In fact, subtlety has jumped ship completely. Instead,
the listener is given stark extremes. One minute you’re been wrapped up under a
warm blanket of soft, soulful electric pianos and next moment you’re diving
headfirst into a shrill dubstep drop fearing the sudden movement in your
bowels.
Sometimes, it does feel like Joker is throwing slightly too
much at the listener without giving you a chance to breathe. His songs refuse
to sit still the same way the camera does in a Michael Bay movie, each scene
shaky and packed with an equal amount of explosions. This busyness and
excessiveness is frustrating at points. However, more often that not it’s what
makes the album as exciting as it is.
There’s never a dull moment on this record because it’s so fast
paced and so chock-a-block with ideas. Joker shows all the impatient playfulness
of a child but all the cohesiveness of an adult, constantly going off on different stylistic tangents but always
keeping the album flowing (every track on this record segues neatly into the next). There some
truly creative moments such as the Peruvian synth panpipes on ‘Scene 3 (Spirit
Ruins)’, the catchy and melancholy groove on ‘Mahogany’ and the cold and industrial
introduction of ‘Fuzz Bop’. Perhaps the only idea that really falls flat on it’s
face is ‘Lucy’, a track featuring a vocal feature from Sam Frank in which the
white artist sings rather cringeworthily in falsettos ‘Let me be your little honky boy’. I’m usually inclined to skip this
track, but otherwise the tracklist’s pretty solid.
The Mainframe
definitely won’t appeal to EDM fans who like their music minimalist. Overall,
its more of a showy album, but one that has a charm to it. These aren’t dense Oneohtrix-Point-Never-style
tracks full of cold and skittering bleeps and bloops and ever-changing time
signatures. Despite the density, the tracks have a real sense of melody and an
element of fun that overall outweighs any pretensions.
★★★★☆
TRACK TASTER:
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