blue states - first steps into ..

if you don’t know, blue states, were the reason that memphis industries managed to get past the initial problems of being a new label on the release block.

the bands debut, nothing changes under the sun, shifted serious units, individual tracks got licensed here, there and everywhere, helping establish the ever interesting label as one to watch.

so it comes as no surprise to find that the downtempo sonic template that blue states excel at continues to impress. the last time around, the soundings, the music was fleshed out by a proper band, vocals and everything. the results were gorgeous. however, for the fourth album, founder and blue states mainman, andy dragazis has decided to sack the hangers on, and go back to his roots, with a set of solo productions involving cinematic production tweaks, pianos, strings, and plenty of fuzzed up guitars.

other than the appearance of tweaked and phased vocals on a handful of tracks, the album is predominantly an instrumental affair, recalling the golden days of instrumental hip hop. ahem, ok, lets just say the phrase, trip hop and get it over with.

thankfully, andy manages to avoid the usual boredom inducing coffee table soundtrack malaise, and create some genuinely affecting music for those times when you just want to take a break from the glut of superficial compressed to fuck electro, or the generic radio saturated r-n-b junk.

for example, when the structure for the electric component changes, and an unexpected hand clap/jazz piano interlude is dropped in, the pleasure factor is drastically increased, then there are the emotional rollercoasters such as the string swamped epic 100’s and 1000’s, or the more upfront rocking noise of gaining time, all of which pales into insignificance with the majestic 60s soul-n-pop styled track what can be done to right a wrong, that just melts this particular listener each and every time.

of course, in the wrong setting, a lot of first steps into .. could wash right over you, but having given the album some time and space, these updated variants on david axelrods use of heart stopping orchestration and rock music dynamics will definitely be enjoyed for far longer than many of 2007s big hitters.