Garmonbozia
The latest release from musician Louis Pavlo is under his Apollo Ray guise with an LP of space-related electronic pieces that find him playing most instruments, but with assistance from various good friends.
The opener “From This Moment” is a slow, spectral search into space, the yearning vocals and synths underpinned by a groovy bass rhythm. It swings gently but there is power in the sweep of the synths. Louis’ voice has a dreamy tone and on “My Accomplice” there is a gentle motion to the dancefloor, a psychedelic drift that explodes into a guitar maelstrom. There are echoes of
The Flaming Lips in their wide reach and
sense of wonder, but also with their overriding desire to connect with the listener.
The variety at play here is lovely; the pretty keyboard motifs and outlandish vocals of “Vitamins” are buried at points by blustery guitar bursts; but you can’t hide the melodies, while “Motion In Inertia” is a stitched-together collection of effected sounds with a dreamy vocal draped over the top. It thinks about pulling itself together until a slithery beat slips out. The conclusion is unexpected, as whoever is producing the
kaleidoscope of sounds keeps twisting and moulding, searching for the perfect cohesion.
One of the nice things about In Orbit is that they know just how much is needed to push pop into discomfort; a sweet piano motif may have some discordant elements and the fuzzy hypno groove of “Electrickery” has a playful, almost baroque pop feel. Elsewhere, there is a melancholy early morning comedown vibe to “Another World, Another Life” with its birdsong and piano.
The dramatic closer “In Orbit” is
full of reverbed weirdness. It feels like the slo-mo soundtrack to some bizarre seventies film; that moment of calm before all hell breaks loose. Its gradual dissipation into a wraithlike stillness is the perfect conclusion.
In Orbit is a fine first collection of songs that points to a really promising career. I’ll be keeping an eye out with great interest.
-Mr Olivetti-
The latest release from musician Louis Pavlo is under his Apollo Ray guise with an LP of space-related electronic pieces that find him playing most instruments, but with assistance from various good friends.
