Thursday, November 3, 2016

Report to the Dance Floor - Jane in Space : "s/t"





I found this album of dark pop while scouring the inner webs for new industrial music as I begin to compile the end of the year lists. On this projects debut the vocals are very moody, they remind me of a more low key version of Stabbing Westward. The vocals are the center piece with the beats wobbling and clicking around them, Sometimes they have more effects on them. Sometimes they are more up front than other times. By the second song Night Riots was coming to mind, though this project is much darker. This is much more ebm than industrial. It is a very hazy narcotic dance floor that these songs dance upon. I would have certainly found this album as a compelling soundtrack to some of my late night chemical binges. Most of your typical "non-goth night " dance music spun in the clubs was never dark enough for me. I like the instrumental sections of this album though for the purpose of this review I am considering them more as interludes.

There is a touch of future pop to "Dizzy Head". The vocals here remind me a little more Peter Gabriel. The bass line sounds like it is played by an actual bass rather than a pro-tools synth wave. The first song that touches on an almost industrial sound is "Weightlessness" and this is mainly due to once of the punches in the verse. The chorus floats around which is fitting given the subject matter. This one is like something from "Pretty Hate Machine".  They are back to a more dance friendly groove on "Mental Abrasions" , some of the backing tracks take on a more machine like sound, so they industrial elements begin to creep in mid way into the album, though I am still unsure if the warrants calling this industrial.

There is more kick to "Helsinki' as guitar comes closer to the forefront.  The vocal croon falls in a more interesting and Depeche Mode like place around the synths here. "Spider Webs" is a little more fragile of a song that leads into another one of their interludes. "Feel It Alive' ends the album on a more emotive tone, though this song still retains it's sense of movement and further from being a ballad than some of the earlier songs. I'll give this album an 8.5, I am not in a hurry to get it on my iPod at the moment , but I also forgot to take my meds to I am not in a hurry to do anything. If you like some of the electronic music that came out of the 90s this hits those spots without any over homage.



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