Rich Aucoin has one of those hobbies that I might have if I won some massive Powerball jackpot. He collects and plays vintage synthesizers and puts the results onto albums like Synthetic – A Synth Odyssey: Season 2.
You know you’re in for something special as soon as the first notes of “Wav” start playing from a 1939 Hammond Novachord (considered the first analog synthesizer) and the stacking, beautiful beats begin to lift your heart. It sounds like Fatboy Slim could’ve recorded this yesterday, but he didn’t and he’s probably wishing he could raid Aucoin’s storage facility as a result. “Shift” definitely shifts the feel of the record, sounding like the music you’d hear as you race alongside a magnetic track bullet train on your personal hover-bike in the year 3023.
Aucoin’s label describes “Pure” as sounding like 1990s French house music, and I’m not sure I can describe it any better than that. It’s a delightfully fun track. “Space” does indeed send you out of orbit and toward a distant nebula full of stars and growing planets. “Tech Noir” gets a bit symphonic, and, by the way, uses the same EMS VCS3 Prototype (on the cover, fourth column, four down from the top) used on Dark Side of the Moon.
“Roger Luther” is named after (and played on) the Moog synthesizer (on the cover, third column, second one down from the top) that’s named after a Moog employee who eventually became the company’s general manager. It peppy and a bit dangerous, reminding me of some darker Devo tracks.
“Lyra” has kind of a hip-hop sound to its beats and synth bass (and vocal loop). “Prophet” is at first what Pimpbot-3000 plays on his Sony Walkman as he struts down the street, and then it blooms into a video game hero’s anthem. The closing track, “Liminal,” is a subtle one that helps you slowly float back down to Earth and leaves you feeling a bit giddy and warm afterwards…like good sex.
It’s a neat project and a neat record, and Aucoin makes all these vintage synths sound like they’re brand new.
Keep your mind open.
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[Thanks to Jessica at Ramp Global PR.]
