If one thing is clear after a decade of music made with reasonably accessible digital audio tools, it's that computers are good at making things sound nasty. I'll leave it to some future theorist to decide whether the tools led the music or the music led the tools, but it seems reasonable to say that much of popular electronic music in the last decade has been focused on making things sound as absolutely farked as possible. The uglier the distortion, the harsher the buzz, the better. And while I certainly don't want to argue against using computers to make any crazy sounds you want, it does seem that there's a certain lack of subtlety in a lot of "hardcore" electronica. Maybe subtlety isn't something many digital hardcore artists are interested in; regardless, it's subtle things, for me at least, that make a recording last. Of course, making records that last might not really be an artist's goal either -- there's plenty of great pop music that will enter your life suddenly, catch your ear, entertain you for a few weeks and then just as suddenly disappear. And that can be pretty great too.
The music on Irony Is is not terribly subtle, although apparently it's a bit toned down compared to the last couple 2nd Gen releases. It's not exactly poppy either, but there are parts of it that I'd describe as almost catchy. The lyrics are pretty dodgy, consisting largely of testosterone-fueled rants that are supposed to come off as deep, but strike me as being far too self-conscious and "tough" to really say much.
All of that is really beside the point, though. Subtle or ham-fisted, eloquent or bone-headed, there's no denying that Wajid Yaseen, the lad behind 2nd Gen, has a way with digital sound. Remember when that first Daft Punk single broke? It was just one big stupid bass line, but wow was it great! A lot of the tunes on Irony Is give me the same feeling. They tend to focus on big, clunky ideas, but those ideas sound great -- and even though it might be getting a bit tired, there's still something really exciting about hearing noises come out of your stereo that in olden days would surely have signaled the end of time. Today they just signal more narsty-sounding pop music, but it's still pretty cool!
I like 2nd Gen's non-vocal tracks much more than their vocal pieces, mostly because the vocal posturing distracts me from the torn up sounds that Yaseen is so good at laying down. He uses hard but straight ahead hip-hop rhythms and big, shredded drum samples. Nearly every sound here is distorted, which sounds like it would be tiring, but so far my ears are happy. There are lots of squealing filters zipping around, jagged basslines to piss off the neighbors and harsh leads for eardrum sanding.
Yeah, it's mostly angry, aggressive stuff. One nice exception is "Black Spring", a sort of blues-techno number that features Gallon Drunk's James Johnston on guitar, harmonica and vocals. Ironically it's the strongest track on the disc.
These days, I'm not often in the mood for music that screams "FUCK YOU!!!" quite as clearly as this stuff does. But even I, a Buddha-like little daisy, am forced admit that it's nice once in a while to clean out one's ears (and the ears of everyone else on the block) with a nice jagged slab of digital nastiness like Irony Is.
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