Saltillo - Monocyte
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Just three months after the release of an excellent album Monocyte, being a soundtrack for a comic strip of the same title and by the same (co)authorship, Menton3 – a sound and vision artist – released to the world a vinyl version of the mentioned longplay.
On Monocyte: The Lapis Coil consists of six tracks – half of them has been moved directly from the first edition of the record, whereas If Wishes Were Catholics & The Right of Actions are remixes, yet slightly differing from the originals. Both pieces seem to have a more subtle tone. In If Wishes Were Catholics the vocal has been amplified and brought to the foreground, leaving the rest of the instruments behind and subduing a marvellous sound of the violin, which have the lead in the original version and add more dramatic effect to the whole piece. The remixed The Right of Actions begins calmly and harmoniously, then the beat is fluently introduced, and afterwards, when the main motif melody of the violin appears, the speed increases much. The remix is more dynamic than the original version and maybe even more pleasant to listen, however, my feeling is that it does not carry such a strong emotional load as the right version of The Right of Actions, where the exceptional character is in fact created through this monotony and the specific heaviness of sounds.
The vinyl includes one extra brand new and evidently distinguished track – Necromancy. The composition resounds with joyful, gospel chant, braided into breakbeat metrum, fractured with melancholy and trip-hop notes. A combination of these musical dimensions makes an interesting effect, although at some moments we might have an impression that something does not clash with the rest here. Anyway, the whole thing is quite fast and rhythmic, which makes it easily ear-catching, and whether it's a plus or minus – depends on the individual taste. I personally like it.
To sum up – if I were to choose one of the two mentioned projects of Matthews, with no single doubt I would pick Monocyte. In my opinion it is a complete work - a great soundtrack picturing bleak atmosphere of a comic strip, which could function just as well as a self-contained album. While, despite the presence of the additional track, which I liked in fact, and some known well-selected ones, of which two assumed a different, interesting form, I treat The Lapis Coil only as a worth-listening bonus.
Tracklist:
01. Proxy
02. If Wishes were Catholics (remix)
03. The Right of Action (remix)
04. Gatekeepers
05. The Locus Priory
06. Necromancy
Other articles:
On Monocyte: The Lapis Coil consists of six tracks – half of them has been moved directly from the first edition of the record, whereas If Wishes Were Catholics & The Right of Actions are remixes, yet slightly differing from the originals. Both pieces seem to have a more subtle tone. In If Wishes Were Catholics the vocal has been amplified and brought to the foreground, leaving the rest of the instruments behind and subduing a marvellous sound of the violin, which have the lead in the original version and add more dramatic effect to the whole piece. The remixed The Right of Actions begins calmly and harmoniously, then the beat is fluently introduced, and afterwards, when the main motif melody of the violin appears, the speed increases much. The remix is more dynamic than the original version and maybe even more pleasant to listen, however, my feeling is that it does not carry such a strong emotional load as the right version of The Right of Actions, where the exceptional character is in fact created through this monotony and the specific heaviness of sounds.
The vinyl includes one extra brand new and evidently distinguished track – Necromancy. The composition resounds with joyful, gospel chant, braided into breakbeat metrum, fractured with melancholy and trip-hop notes. A combination of these musical dimensions makes an interesting effect, although at some moments we might have an impression that something does not clash with the rest here. Anyway, the whole thing is quite fast and rhythmic, which makes it easily ear-catching, and whether it's a plus or minus – depends on the individual taste. I personally like it.
To sum up – if I were to choose one of the two mentioned projects of Matthews, with no single doubt I would pick Monocyte. In my opinion it is a complete work - a great soundtrack picturing bleak atmosphere of a comic strip, which could function just as well as a self-contained album. While, despite the presence of the additional track, which I liked in fact, and some known well-selected ones, of which two assumed a different, interesting form, I treat The Lapis Coil only as a worth-listening bonus.
Tracklist:
01. Proxy
02. If Wishes were Catholics (remix)
03. The Right of Action (remix)
04. Gatekeepers
05. The Locus Priory
06. Necromancy
Other articles:
- Saltillo - Ganglion - 2012-01-09 (Music reviews)
