The Utopia Strong are a supergroup of sorts and often supergroups can be a bit hit and miss. If this taster is anything to go by then the yet to be released self titled debut is going to be a massive hit. What we have here is psychedelic electronic music cosmiche in it’s purest form.
Brainsurgeons 3 starts off slow and builds up and up with layer upon layer of synths and audio fx, hints of melody lines from various instruments are introduced and slowly fade into the background. Anyone who has played around with a delay pedal on a guitar will know how easy it is to create a cacophany that overwhelms the ear but The Utopia Strong show restraint and know just when to reduce everything back to a low murmur. This creates a hypnotic and ever changing musical soundscape that would make a gread soundtrack to an audio visual experience.
As for influences I can certainly hear a bit of Frippertronics going on, add a motorik beat and some minimalist Kraftwerk. There’s even something that sounds like Bagpipes in the mix that give the whole thing a Tubular Bells feel but without that stiff one man band restriction. This would sit nicely in a mix next to the more modern sounds of Steve Hauschildt and the Oscillation. Unfortunately the LP isn’t due out til September so I won’t be able to play it in my festival DJ set in Aug. Someone get me a test pressing fast!
The blokes in the pub thought I was joking when I said the Steve ‘interesting’ Davis was in a band. Thankfully it isn’t a novelty act doing snooker loopy nuts are we, nor is it one of those half arsed rock bands that American actors do when the have a week off between movies. This is a serious piece of modern electronic prog rock. Kavas Torabi and Michael York (not the actor) complete the line up. Regardless of who is in the band this is top quality music that deserves to be heard.
Check it out, here
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