When this independent release from Galway based electronic musician, Tenaka (aka Ronan Carroll), arrived on my doormat the other day, there were serious intentions to plant myself down, give it a blast and stick pen to paper in order to doodle and jot down useless notes.
Of course for obvious reasons (once again, see below) I took my time, but this allowed me the luxury to kick back, relax and partake in some simple absorption (i.e. - flake out).
Following six days of erring and ahhing, thinking and sweating, I finally crouched down, knocked off the lights and eventually... fell asleep. But first, the EP.
"EPonymously Titled" contains four tracks of chilled out dark electronica that has been rather neatly crafted together by Carroll. The release blends itself from New Order-esque bass lines with a very Death in Vegas / Royksopp feel - although thankfully this CD never falls into chasm of utter boredom that Royksopp inhabit.
Admittedly the release isn't entirely perfect - the vocals on Ain't Nobody slightly out of sequence with the rest of the track and the percussion on Someday is far too static - but for a debut issue, there is some pretty good stuff going on here.
Open Up is probably the best song on the disc, bringing to light some nice touches reminiscent of Death in Vegas - my only quibble being that when the track reversal near the end is somewhat unnecessary. The fourth of four is Alaskan, an nice driving track that is just the touch to finish the EP.
This definitely an excellent debut effort and while there are still remnants of various musical influences at work, I am expecting there to be some solid progression come the next release.
Of course for obvious reasons (once again, see below) I took my time, but this allowed me the luxury to kick back, relax and partake in some simple absorption (i.e. - flake out).
Following six days of erring and ahhing, thinking and sweating, I finally crouched down, knocked off the lights and eventually... fell asleep. But first, the EP.
"EPonymously Titled" contains four tracks of chilled out dark electronica that has been rather neatly crafted together by Carroll. The release blends itself from New Order-esque bass lines with a very Death in Vegas / Royksopp feel - although thankfully this CD never falls into chasm of utter boredom that Royksopp inhabit.
Admittedly the release isn't entirely perfect - the vocals on Ain't Nobody slightly out of sequence with the rest of the track and the percussion on Someday is far too static - but for a debut issue, there is some pretty good stuff going on here.
Open Up is probably the best song on the disc, bringing to light some nice touches reminiscent of Death in Vegas - my only quibble being that when the track reversal near the end is somewhat unnecessary. The fourth of four is Alaskan, an nice driving track that is just the touch to finish the EP.
This definitely an excellent debut effort and while there are still remnants of various musical influences at work, I am expecting there to be some solid progression come the next release.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
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