BRYAN CARRIGAN
passing lights
Peonies Music (2011)
Electronic keyboardist/synthesist/rhythm programming expert
Bryan Carrigan is garnering a reputation for crafting great electronic music –
well-layered, flawlessly produced and engineered and laden with abundant hooks
and infectious beats so that the tunes are damn near irresistible. I reviewed focus,
his world-beat infused electronica release, for Zone Music Reporter. passing
lights takes Carrigan's music into a more overt EM landscape, seamlessly
meshing elements of chill-out, synth-pop, dub, rhythmic ambient, and retro EM
into another tasty assemblage of ear candy. passing lights is custom-tailored
to be driving music (hence its title, I'd wager), especially late night urban
excursions along neon-lit city boulevards, although it could certainly make
rural highway drives a pleasant occasion as well.
"balloons" kicks the CD off in fine fashion with
echoed blips over a bed of retro buzzing textures, frenetic beats, thumping
bass, and finger-snap accompaniment, all of which come before the lead melody
emerges - a dramatic, soaring keyboard line that evokes traveling at high
speeds. "the flickering" opens with shadowy, warbling noises, but
soon becomes a bass-heavy snare/high hat dub-esque affair, meriting comparison
to all those classic Waveform "A.D." releases from way-back-when.
"shades" features shimmering tones of different types and pitches
against a backdrop of downtempo thumping bass beats and shuffling rhythmic
textures. "ten times two" lightens the mood and introduces subtle
world music flavors via wooden flute and tuned metal percussion, but again a
heavy bass beat anchors the music solidly in the electronic genre, which only
intensifies when the lead synth line is introduced. The mood is somewhat
melancholic, if, that is, energetic, driving beats can ever be said to be
melancholic. It's a unique wrinkle, one that Carrigan delves into now and then.
"centipede" carries a hint of Asian or Indian
spice, once again via sampled ethnic instruments as well as how the melody is
crafted, while "you me equals we" revisits some of the same sonic
elements first heard on "the flickering" but twisting them into
something new nonetheless. Dub rears its head on the midtempo beat-fest
"destination now" but it's dub spiced up with some world music
touches that sound either North African or Middle Eastern to my ears, as if it this
music could be heard at a cyber café located in a desert village town square.
"drive home" dials down the beats to a slower tempo and heads into a
jazzy vein with a swirling muted trumpet line along with what sounds like a
Fender Rhodes electric piano (tweaked a bit, though). There are two more tracks
still to come - the frenetic quasi-Berlin styled "hidden spaces"
(which reminds me of Can Atilla's album Omni)
and the sparse non-rhythmic closer, "beginnings" (interesting title
for the last track!) - a drifting, ambient piano number, accented with swelling
electronic drones and textures underneath the echoed piano notes. Being the
only cut without beats, it's as if the artist is saying "Here, finally, is
some time to catch your breath." It's an appropriately quiet, subdued
ending to an album that revs the listener up and takes him/her on a ride across
a rhythmic expanse of musical marvels.
As I write this review, I am also poised to write my review
of Carrigan's brand new release, windows, which sees this talented electronic
music artist head in yet another distinctly different direction, that being a
merging of electronic-based new age and ambient music. It seems that Bryan
Carrigan's bag of tricks is like Hermione Granger's handbag - bottomless and
filled with wondrous items.
The album is available directly from the artist (sound clips available here as well) or at CDBaby.
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