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Pssst, do you want to go to a weird party? It's going to be fun, just get in my van and we're on our way. Don't worry, nothing bad will happen, we really are in for some fun. It will be something
unlike you have ever experienced, I promise you. We'll be dancing and laughing and dancing some more, all night long. Come on, get in.
Rest assured, dear readers, I do not own a van and I certainly don't go driving downtown to pick up people for some weird parties. I just made that previous paragraph up while I was making a croque-monsieur and listening to this AAAA album. The part about 'fun' was true however. This is a fun album, filled with wicked beats, lo-fi dance music and almost ancient electronics.
The music on this album can best be described as experimental electronic dance music. It doesn't have the ever evolving modern sound of most techno releases these days. Instead, it drives on sixties and seventies synth sounds and an electroclash feel. With my limited knowledge of modern dance music, I'd put this somewhere between Little Computer People and Black Dice.
Title track 'Shiva Watts' is a pretty uptempo dance track that flirts with nineties techno but maintains a minimal approach. 'Blackfish', one of my favourites on this album, is a nice piece of
elektro that nudges towards Krafwerk. The latter often comes to mind by the way, just like ambient synth wizards like Klaus Schulze. Again, a minimal version.
But we're not done yet. You can hear a lot of different influences on this album. There's some
eighties hip-hop to be found on Shiva Watts, mainly in the beats on 'Vocall 300', a nice hip shaker of a song. 'SH Crush' and 'Pet Grief' even remind me of old EBM acts like Fad Gadget or Cabaret Voltaire. The combination of all these elements, makes Shiva Watts an amazingly versatile album with some great tracks.
AAAA is one of those people who deliver a different perspective on dance music. This is electronic music well worth checking out and well worth giving it a shot when you get the chance to see this live. No doubt this will be a performance to remember, mainly because you never thought it was possible to do this live in a convincing way...
Serge