And, if you can make it all sound as good as Reaks does then you've done bloody well my friend!!
Play 90 second soundbite of 'Sucker For Punishment' @ 'CD quality'
And, if you can make it all sound as good as Reaks does then you've done bloody well my friend!!
'Melancholia' is a strange but inspired album of cross-over music; quoting from Reaks' press pack, '..African Rhythms, post-punk guitars and vocals, cut-up poetry, dub, Indian drones, repetition and sound collage..' and that's probably, no definitely, an understatement!! 'Melancholia', far from being what the title might suggest, is a bright and organic work of great vision, awesome depth and seriously impressive creativity. It's like nothing else I know! It ducks and dives into most modernistic genres, from ambient electro meanderings, through post-rock and world music, across great chasms of 'orchestrated' originality and out into indie, rock, pop and just about every other 'flavour' imaginable. It's a brave work that refuses to sit still in any one place for too long as it flits through nuances with total disrespect for the listener's expectations or sanity. If you put Peter Gabriel together with Mike Oldfield, New Order and The Chemical Brothers you might just get something approaching what Ashley Reaks is doing here!
'Melancholia' by Ashley Reaks isn't just noise for noise's sake, oh no, 'Melancholia' is stunningly conceived and beautifully executed with Reaks only calling on the help of a couple of friends for some additional vocals and saxophones - Reaks does everything else himself and does it bloody well it has to be said. Eastern chants vie with spoken poetic words, electric sounds sit side-by-side with 'traditional' percussive elements, world folk meets rock in a head-on collision that results in a whole new monstrous musical being. 'Melancholia' takes 'world' music to new heights; slightly cultish rather than truly commercial maybe but certainly none the worst for its experimental roots (or should that be routes?), 'Melancholia' is a worthy contender for the title 'most inspired musical composition' so far this century!
Ashley Reaks is quite obviously a great wordsmith and his all-round musical prowess is nothing short of sensational; vocally Reaks demonstrates great variety and depth and instrumentally he could be said to be extremely Oldfield-esque and more than just competent - Reaks is sensational! This is a quite magical musical voyage the like of which I've not come across before. Reaks has contrived to develop a style that's not just eclectic but truly universal; his use of alternate rhythms is absolutely wonderful and he combines those traditional themes with his own take on contemporary rock music to result in a wide-ranging but thoroughly enjoyable concoction that's pretty cool but also damn exciting, a positive feast of electric and acoustic sounds that are as relaxing as they are motivating. Very clever stuff this - a real surprise and an absolute treat to behold. The exotic and scarily original 'Melancholia' by Ashley Reaks is a fuckin' superb album, really different, really really cool and really really really quite exceptional!
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