Artist: ARP
Album: More
Label: Smalltown Supersound
FCC Clean
The futuristic sounds of the tiny explosions and pops created by what sounds like some sort of modulizer out of Star Trek are the first tip off that this is not just any old pop record. It is an album much more complex than anything that normally falls under the pop label and deserves multiple listens before it can truly be conquered. A mostly piano driven album, “More,” is a project that combines lots of unique sounds into something really special. Yes there is the nice, “poppy” voice to accompany the melodic and pleasant sounding piano playing, but there are also plenty of beeps, bops and birdcalls and everything in between to stretch the album into something more than just a compilation of songs. The addition of the sounds of nature that play after some songs make the album seem like it is a lot longer than the 45 minute run time and having a track like “Gravity (For Charlemagne of Palestine) in the middle of the album really creates an almost droney feel to the album. The track is devoted to a slow piano buildup with strings accompanying throughout and lasts for six minutes without vocals. It ends with what sounds like a helicopter taking off and goes right into some more futuristic radio sounds, almost making the listener forget that there is anything songs with lyrics at all. The whole combination between vocals and not makes the album have quite a complex feel and allows listeners to hear something new each listen.
