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Mlada Fronta - Polygon


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Mlada Fronta remained silent for over 9 years but French act's driving creative force Remy Pelleschi brings "Polygon" to his audience without any trace of doubt in his continuing relevance and talent. His latest electronic effort is self-contained, precisely calculated and flawlessly executed, and it comfortably occupies space above the genre preconceptions and somewhere in the sphere of palpable and transcendent sonic stimuli.

The music pulsates pleasantly as if the album's living heartbeat was setting and adjusting the pace of the wave after wave of fluctuating melody lines. The tribal influences and the aural textures made up of blunt beats and industrial weight that dominated Mlada Fronta's past work are indeed largely gone and "Polygon" marks its arrival with a gentle whizz of slowly escalating IDM passages.
Moody and purposeful, "Spot" feels like an organic extension of the complex and vivid soundscapes that Mlada Fronta devised in the past, and yet the echoing vibration of the ambient sounds contained within sets a brand new tone for Pelleschi's project. Crisp, energizing but not devoid of confidence and urgency the opening of "Polygon" showcases the trajectory of the French musician who despite his lengthy absence clearly did not loose focus of his mission and the broader, ever changing state of the electronic genre.
"Flash" begins with a penetrating but slow burning rhythm but quickly shifts the gear, evolving, layer by layer, into an unstoppable club oriented construct of synth loops and suddenly emerging bass crescendos. With Pelleschi's past output as a guide to Mlada Fronta's latest, any listener might rightfully feel a bit lost but thankfully the transparency of his influences and goals alike helps establish "Polygon" as one of 2014's best electronic releases.
Almost every composition registers as a potential dance floor hit. "Night Run" and "Strict Dress Code" push forward with unwavering determination; "Cop/Magnum Bass" and "Kim" offer more glitchy and pop oriented experience, while lengthy mood pieces like "Top" help erect in the listener's mind an impressive imaginary façade of technological nightmares.

"Polygon" is as much a surprise as it is, predictably, a fascinating and accomplished release from an artist of fantastic range and potential. Mlada Fronta's return offers a new direction for Pelleschi, an unexpected change of pace for the fans of his output, and an all round entertaining record for any and all electro aficionados. Albeit built from contemporary and widely recognized templates "Polygon" raises the bar for dance electronica and IDM, if only through the uncanny craftsmanship and the precision of its execution.

Tracklist:

01. Spot
02. Cvb
03. Flash
04. Osc-A
05. Cop / magnum bass
06. Night run
07. Klm
08. Strict dress code
09. Top
10. Polygon 1
11. Dfg
12. Sdk
13. Ytre
Author:
Translator: hellium
Add date: 2015-11-10 / Music reviews




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