Music Reviews

“mandell_jake”

Jake Mandell

Quondam Current

Force Inc.

Pulse. It’s all about the pulse. It’s the relentless thump of your heart and the creamy blood textures. Quondam Current seeps under your skin and infects you with the headnod/breakin’-it-down virus. Jake Mandell has created a new Ebola, and uses this CD as a vehicle for transmitting it to everyone in sight. I feel privileged to have had my body melted down by Mr. Mandell.

Jake Mandell has a degree in biochemistry and with it an intimate knowledge of microstructures. He applies these structures to this album, and makes these minimal structures glow. Unlike his Cologne counterparts, Mandrels music feels alive and organic. The beats grow and flower among the drizzle of synthesized melody. They intertwine with crisp effects, while stereo effects careen off of the non-existent boundaries. At least one listen on headphones is mandatory, so one can see the extraordinary detail put into every single track.

You can see traces of Pole-esque nu-dub in these 13 tracks. Bits of the clicking rhythms and deep bass occurring on albums on the ‘scape label appear on “Circumscribed.” The clarity of vision on this album is epitomized in “Enchanted Philter.” Mandell introduces a pulse, and slowly introduces various elements until we find ourselves riding a solid monster of a track. Out of nowhere flies this breakbeat. It stays long enough to throw us off guard, but retreats while the throbbing bass pulse reappears. The melody reoccurs later on in the album, albeit in heavily twisted form.

On the minimal tip of this branch of electronic music, Jake Mandell stands tall and proud.

Force Inc., Wesestr. 7, 60329 Frankfurt/Germany, http://www.force-inc.com


Recently on Ink 19...

News Feed for Friday, June  9

News Feed for Friday, June 9

News Feed

In the news today: Best Board Games, Tina Turner, Trugoy the Dove, Electric Six, Drew Barrymore, Ratboys, Slipknot's Clown, Fugees, Juneteenth, Shannen Doherty

Witchapalooza

Witchapalooza

Event Reviews

When witches gather, dinner is who you make it, in Witchapalooza, a play by Kamron Kiltgaard. Carl F. Gauze reviews.

News Feed for Thursday, June  8

News Feed for Thursday, June 8

News Feed

In the news today: Best Board Games, Tina Turner, Trugoy the Dove, Electric Six, Drew Barrymore, Ratboys, Slipknot's Clown, Fugees, Juneteenth, Shannen Doherty, Jen Lush, Romy, Bad Omens, Kindness and Care, Halsey, Lilith, A Giant Dog, Brendan Small

Garage Sale Vinyl: Tanya Tucker

Garage Sale Vinyl: Tanya Tucker

Garage Sale Vinyl

This week, Christopher Long spots and scores a mint-condition vinyl copy of the 1982 live album from one of his all-time favorite country artists, Tanya Tucker, at his local Goodwill store for a quarter.

Calexico

Calexico

Music Reviews

Feast of Wire: 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition (Quarterstick). Review by Judy Craddock.

News Feed for Wednesday, June  7

News Feed for Wednesday, June 7

News Feed

In the news today: Alice Phoebe Lou, King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, Wilco, Noel Gallagher, Foo Fighters, Allison Russell, Brian Eno, Mantra of the Cosmos, Happy Mondays, Oasis, Ride, supergroup, Jason Isbell, The 400 Unit, Renee Rapp, Queens of the Stone Age, Phantogram, Viagra Boys, tour news, Spider-Man, Miyazaki, Is For Lovers Festival, Drug Church

Scarlet

Scarlet

Screen Reviews

Director Pietro Marcello follows up his heralded adaptation of Jack London’s Martin Eden with Scarlet, a bold reimagining of Aleksandr Grin’s classic 1923 novel, Scarlet Sails. Lily and Generoso review Marcello’s exceptional contemporary take on this beloved fairy tale.

News Feed for Monday, June  5

News Feed for Monday, June 5

News Feed

In the news today: Steve Vai, The Sawtooth Grin, Thin, Sunflo'er, GWAR, Skrillex, Primavera Sound, Sweet Gloom, The Chats, Cosmic Psychos, Yellowcard, Fontaines Dc, Grian Chatten

%d bloggers like this: