Music Exile - CD Reviews




	Album: "Closure" (2001) Label: Cleopatra Records Style: Electro-pop Songs: 10	B
Reviewed by: Darklight I’m not quite sure as to what audience Spahn Ranch wants this CD to appeal to as there is so much variety contained here that different songs will interest different people as opposed to the entire disc interesting one particular fan base. Basically, you will have to like a large variety of electronic music to enjoy this entire CD. There’s a little bit of everything here from industrial and darkwave to synth-pop and techno. The album opens with “Reasons” which is an energetic electro-pop song featuring upbeat music and a driving chorus. It’s a great way to get things started as it’s energized with a lot of memorable hooks. However, track two is a slow, dreary, dark, haunting cover of PJ Harvey’s “The River”. This is an interesting song that has a bit of a darkwave edge to it, but I don’t feel that it works as track two, being that it’s so mellow. It should have been saved for later on the album when the listener was more ready for a slow song. Track three “Destruction” is the best song here as it’s a hard driving crunchy industrial song with bite. While it is a bit heavy with distorted guitars, it’s also melodic as well with a harmonic chorus. Track four “The Missing Frame” is a lighter more mid-tempo song with heavy bass beats and a hypnotic vocal delivery by Athan Maroulis. It’s a rather commercial pop song that would be right at home on any pop radio station. Track five “Born On A Ray Of Light” is a funky tribal Jamaican instrumental with worldly sounds and floating beats. It does seem a little out of place on this CD, but it’s done well enough to hold your interest. Track six “Phase” is another upbeat mid-tempo commercial sounding pop song with entertaining music structures and Athan’s melodic singing. Track seven “The Last Laugh” is a rather funky electro-pop song that plays at a medium pace with a lot of unique sounds mixed along with Athan’s almost spoken vocal delivery. Track eight “Flash Forward” is a hard driving techno instrumental with Jamaican voice samples and heavy guitar in the mix. It’s a good track as it offers a lot of changing directions and creative effects. Track nine “Mind Over Matter” is another fast paced club floor filling techno instrumental that would probably be a big hit at raves. Track ten “A Picture” is another one of my favorite songs here. It starts off with trance style electro sounds while Athan delivers spoken word. Then Athan sings the chorus slow and melodic just teasing the listener with what is to come. Before you know what hit you the pace of the song picks up with energetic hard driving beats and Athan sings the chorus more emotionally. If this recording contained more songs like “Reasons”, “The River”, “Destruction” and “A Picture” it would have been a real winner. But the slower more melodic funky mid-tempo commercial electro-pop songs just aren’t that enjoyable, and I find them to be rather dull. The instrumentals are good, but seem a little out of place alongside the other tracks with vocals. While overall this is a quality release with nothing bad offered, there is too much variety making for a difficult listen from beginning to end.
	Album: "Retrofit" (1998) Label: Cleopatra Records Style: Techno Songs: 10	C
Reviewed by: Darklight This CD features ten remixes of songs from the Spahn Ranch "Architecture" album. As usual, only a few tracks have been chosen to be remixed which means that there are several remixes of the same songs included here. Everything is in typical remix form with major techno influences meant for the dance floor. While this is good for some songs, a lot of them come off sounding a bit funky and experimental. The best tracks are "In the Aftermath (Astralasia Mix), "Monochrome (JLAB Eugenics Mix)", "Black Skinned Blue Eyed Boys (Transmutator Mix)" and "Architecture in Dub". Everything else is basically a funky techno/drum & bass mess that I just didn't find very interesting. If you're a big Spahn Ranch fan, you will most likely enjoy this CD. Otherwise, only people into funky techno and drum & bass music will appreciate what is offered here.
	Album: "Beat Noir" (1998) Label: Cleopatra Records Style: Techno Songs: 10	C
Reviewed by: Darklight This release is a new direction for Spahn Ranch. In the past they created an electro industrial/synth-pop hybrid style of music, but now they make drum and bass techno music. I am slightly disappointed with this new direction. They sound very commercial now. The music lacks the synth melodies of the past. Now electronic sounds and heavy drum beats make up the song structures. A lot of the songs lack vocals. The singer of this band is really good and should be used more. However, there's an echo effect used on his voice here that takes away from his true potential. The music comes off sounding a bit empty and tinny. It's not full and layered like it was in the past. The same repetitive drum and bass rhythms and beats seem to be used in every song. There just isn't enough happening in these songs to make them very interesting. While the music is fast paced, it has a funky vibe to it that would prevent it from working in an industrial/goth club atmosphere. There are still touches of Spahn Ranch here, but this is a lot different from anything that they have done in the past. Those looking for a more straight forward drum and bass techno experience will like what this album has to offer. However, there's nothing here to appeal to industrial music fans.
	Album: "Architecture" (1997) Label: Cleopatra Records Style: Electro industrial Songs: 12	C
Reviewed by: Darklight This album is a lot different than Spahn Ranch's previous album "The Coiled One". I liked that album a lot because it was a clean sounding industrial album with a unique vibe and some great fast paced songs designed for the dance floor. But this follow up album isn't as good. It has its moments, but it also has some strange material that is just out of place here. The album opens with the annoying "Monochrome". This song is muffled with slow paced funk rhythms and boring talking vocals. It flat out sucks. Song two "Black Skinned Blue Eyed Boys" is an 80's style upbeat catchy synth pop song. I like it, but it's different. Song three "In The Aftermath" is more traditional Spahn Ranch material with upbeat futuristic electronic rhythms and beats and clean singing. Song four "Futurist Limited" is a slow and melodic song with good electronic programming and singing. It's a relaxing song that is enjoyable to listen to when you are in a mellow mood. Song five "Incubate" is an extremely fast paced techno instrumental that is out of place on the dark and melodic nature of this album. Song six "Embodied" is another dark, slow, and melodic song with good electronics and synths and singing that does pick up at times. Song seven "A Depression Glass" is a little more upbeat with catchy rhythms and beats. Song eight "U Tell Em U" is another fast paced techno instrumental that is out of place on this album. Song nine "Futurist Unlimited" is a medium paced song with a mixture of catchy electronics and melodic synths with both slow and more energetic moments. Song ten "Laurels" is a very futuristic sci-fi electronic song with catchy beats and vocals that get robotically distorted for the chorus. Song eleven "The Catalyst" is a very slow, melodic, and romantic song. It fits the mood of this album. Song twelve "Solace" is a short melodic instrumental that ends the album. Nothing here is as good as the material found on Spahn Ranch's previous release "The Coiled One". But this is a very quality album if you want a dark, mellow, and melodic electro industrial experience.
	Album: "The Coiled One" (1995) Label: Cleopatra Records Style: Cyber-core Songs: 10	B
Reviewed by: Darklight This is a rather unique industrial band. They are very melodic without any distorted vocals. The singer's voice is so good that there is no need to distort it. Some of the songs here such as "Locusts", "Heretic's Fork", and "The Judas Cradle" are extremely catchy. The other songs have their own unique sound as well. There are a lot of electronics found in this music. There is some guitars, too. But this is not thrash music at all. It has a tame feel to it. Probably due to the clean vocals, melodic rhythms, and extreme polish. Some of the songs are slower paced than others, but they're not too slow. However, I will admit that I like the faster paced songs the most. But there isn't a bad song to be found here. I can't really compare the sound that Spahn Ranch produces to any other band. They do deserve credit for being unique.