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This album is truly one of the most unique sounding things I have ever heard. It is without a doubt the best album Telepath has ever produced. It breaks every rule as to what music should be. Most songs include stange instruments with strange vocals and have extremely unorthodox song structures. This album was groundbreaking, and despite being one of the first Slushwave albums back in 2015, it still holds up today.
The album is both psychedelic and nocturnal at the same time. The cover perfectly enapsulates the mood. Many of the tracks are quite ghostly, with laidback "phazed" drum patterns dancing back and forth into the background. This sound can best be heard on the 5th track (選ばれし者). The production Telepath used on otherwise unremarkable samples was both minimalistic and perfectly executed. He has been known to produce some of his music directly onto cassette decks, and use analog production techniques. Regardless of wether or not this applies to this album, his ability to find and manipulate samples to create this atmosphere is remarkable.
My only major complaints with this album are tracks 4 (強迫観念) and 7 (強い願望). I think they break the calming vibe that the preceeding tracks set, and make the succeeding songs sound more uneasy than the artist intended them to be.
Favorite tracks: 2. 愛の瞬間, 3. 深夜の愛, 6. 星間性交, 9. 同感です, and 10. 夜に愛.
Final Score: 9/10. Never gets old.
Entry added 12/8/24
Work in progress!
Work in progress!
Work in progress!
Work in progress!
Work in progress!
Work in progress!
I always like to listen to this album with the windows open. I think the best way I can describe the album is being like the smell of rain. The gentle buildup of the synths and it's harmony with the piano is incredible. I love how the piano is played twice with different production on it. It allows the instruments to harmonise with themselves and leads to instrumentation to be both minimalistic and impactful at the same time. The background sound effects ranging from a train, to slow cars moving over wet cement help to create a proprioceptive sense of place.
The album cover is also somewhere in my top 10. I slightly prefer the version of it released on Vill4in records, but you can see the original design on the cassette release. The original album art really belongs on a cassette, as a square album cover leaves too much empty space to be filled by just black. Not only is the eye stunning, but the pressence of the black background blurs the distinction between the woman, and her environment, thus making the two representative of one-another. The inclusion of snow behind her not only gives you a rough idea of her outline, but it also provides color composition. Really killer cover.
There's nothing I don't like about this album; it's short and sweet, and uses up all of it's tricks without letting them get old. It's really emotionally evocative and the usage of background noise is clever and tastefull.
Favorite track: 1. 我昨晚梦见你了.
Final Score: 7.5/10
Entry added 12/11/24
Definetly my favorite techno album of all time. It's a great blend of ghetto house and synthwave, with great production. Every track is full of great techno beats with vapor-like production punctuated by synth riffs you would find on a synthwave release. The composition of each song is incredible, with call-and-response chatter between each of the instruments. The result is a nostalgic tribute to the 2000s/90s rave scene set somewhere in a 480p true crime documentury.
Everything about this album reeks of Y2K aesthetics, from the nuclear green album cover to the Eurobeat-ness of tracks like Acid Jam Mutek, and the references to old technology in the interludes between tracks and the scanlines of the cover itself. it's a throwback to the excitement (and grittiness) of the era, lending the album to be dancable but with a message to it, aswell.
I love every song on this album. They are all perfect, and there's nothing I would change about any of them. Cult Member had a vision and he achieved it perfectly. His maximalist approach to the genre flips all of the conventions of techno on it's head, creating a claustrophobic and moody atmosphere in the absence of a crowded club.
Favorite track(s): 1: 2080, 4. Steroid Dealer, 5: Faygo, 11: Dream Member.
Final Score: 8.5/10
Entry added 12/15/24
I don't have to talk much about the album as it speaks for itself. It feels exactly like the album cover.
Ultimately, Desert Sands pays tribute to the concept of memory, the idea of forgetting and remembering.
I would reccomend listening to this just before you go to sleep.
Favorite track: All of them, but 3. プールサイドの夢 is really nice.
Final Score: 10/10
Entry added 12/17/24