Retro Reviews: ADULT. - New - Phonies

Returning to the retro review format for the first time in a long while, this one shouldn't be as draining as the last couple I've done that focused on albums - today I'll be diving back into ADULT.'s New - Phonies, a fantastic introduction to the group and probably one of their finest works. I've been listening to a lot more EPs than albums as of late due to how much more easily accessible they are, and though this isn't billed as an EP, its cut from the same cloth. Last time I brought up this EP it was around 2016, so let's see if anything's changed between now and then.

I have a long and storied history with ADULT. - though it took me a long time to come around to doing a full deep dive into their works, but once I did they fast became some of my favourites in their genre. And that genre is a bit of a sticking point: often lumped in with Electroclash with artists like Peaches, Felix Da Housecat and others, though ADULT. much like Ladytron disagreed with that label. While there is an undenaible element of similarity in their content and execution, I have had plenty of people kick up a fuss when I've posted them under Electroclash in the past. As I've gotten older I've stopped caring as much about labels, but much like with my begruding use of 'IDM', it is very helpful to define the sound beyond just 'electro' as it's listed on Discogs. But I'll put a pin in it there, this isn't supposed to be a rant about genres, let's get into the content.

When I think of ADULT. the first thing that comes to mind is Nicola Kuperus' unique vocal delivery - often stacatto, laden with anxiety and shouty when it needs to be. New-Phonies gives a nice preview of that on the first track New Object, featuring a stop-start-stutter rendition of the title, backed up with some delicious of the era filtered verses. That's not to discount Adam Lee Miller's contributions to their productions, I end up saying that every time but it bears repeating. They perfectly compliment each other, the electronics on show here are lovely and raw, really embodying that DIY punk style that was no doubt an influence on the two. Twin that with Kuperus' slightly surreal photoshoots adorning the sleeves and you complete the duo's iconic look.



Track 2 makes it much easier to see where that electroclash comparison comes from, a suitably sultry track about phone sex. Doubly so with Nicola's decidedly disinterested vocal recalling Miss Kittin's work with The Hacker of around the same time. Coming back to this one, it's a much slower tempo than I usually associate with ADULT., but one that I think works in this context. Despite the cliches surrounding scene when it comes to deliberately smutty content, I can't think of another ADULT. track that is as explicit as this, with Kuperus' vocal breaking the monotone barrier and literally rising to a climax in the final quarter.



By far and away the highest highlight of the whole thing for me however is Hand To Phone. First track form the aptly titled Lipstick Knife side of the vinyl - A track I will admit I am supremely biased towards and has been in my collection in some form or another since the mid 00's or so. Popular enough to warrant two further spin off EPs of remixes, a reputation it has well earned - it is fantastic, definitely one of the standout tracks of that time. The remixes are good in their own way but it is the original that is the highlight. Absolutley hypnotic, it is one of the few tracks I can never seem to tire of, Kuperus' vocal on here is perfectly matched, the subtle melody to it skirts the cliché flat delivery of the time. A perfect encapsulation of the time, wonderful stuff.



Closing track Your Lies always stood out to me as a little odd in comparison to the other tracks on show. Not nesecerially in a bad way though, it's just perhaps not as dark as the other tracks, and the vocal being distant and vocoded after 3 tracks back to back of Kuperus in full effect seems a little odd. Still, I can't knock it - the way the intro layers up and gives way to the main synth riff is lovely, a really nice electro cut. Perhaps not quite as raw as some of the tracks here, or even their earleir works but I think it carries that methodology with it a little. Looking back on other times I've brought this track up I seem to always say it is maybe not the best closing track but I have to disagree with hindsight, while perhaps swapping Your Lies with Don't Talk might have been a nice sort of comedown quarter, I think the four tracks as they are make for a nice "We are ADULT." kind of release.



And that'll about wrap it up for today, I have to say this record doesn't really sound its age, which I will admit is true for a lot of releases under the Electrclash banner as they were essentially emulating the 80's anyway, but there have been some less well aged examples from the era as well. Pretty incredible for a record that's coming up on 22 years old this year in my humble opinion - these early ADULT. records might be my favourite of their output, but there's plenty to get stuck into if you're digging this kind of sound, I'd recommend jumping to the Rescusitation compilation for more, not only is it full length compared to this release but it also features some reworked versions of their earlier releases too, including a version of Hand To Phone. I'll try and be back around soon enough with more but until then, as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Trip Report

I am back with a sit-rep on what I actually got around to getting on Bandcamp Friday. No massive changes in plans this time though, I did end up subbing out the Arpanet LP for some other stuff though, as well as getting the ADULT. EP thingy I talked about last time but didn't actually post about. Let's get stuck in.

M.C. Escher - Blocks of Basalt along the Sea (1919)
First major change was I decided to listen to a couple of other LNS releases just to feel them out, I ended up on her latest LNS-id first of all - the pun in the title is stretching it a bit, but as it suggests, this is much more Acid flavoured than the track from Recons One I used last time. I do like Acid, but I don't have a right lot of it in my archives, I feel like it's one of those genres that can suffer from being quite same-y in its execution (but admittedly, I haven't gone too deep into the genre so take that with two handfuls of salt). Most of my Acid comes from Squarepusher's brother's project Ceephax Acid Crew, his work tends to be quite creative in the boundaries of Acid and as you might have guessed from some of those album covers, often very much embracing the sillier side of things. I thought that maybe this one might be the same, what with the massive Acid smiley over LNS' frog logo on the cover and all.

So with that in mind, I wasn't really sure what exactly to expect going into this one - would it be some tongue-in-cheek Acid? A straight up tribute to the style that fully embraces all the clichés like Luke Vibert's Luke Vibert Presents UK Garave Vol. 1 maybe? Not quite as it turns out, the opening Blue Acid grabbed my attention straight away with its ambient techy vibes, the frantic 303 that you might expect for an Acid track is very subdued at first and it gives the whole thing this very different feel than I've ever encountered in the world of Acid before. LNS nails the production side of things here too, just when I find myself thinking that it needs a little something to spice it up, something that changed up the formula would drop right in. I can understand the 303 being repetitive to some, and there are some times where I feel it too - I'd have liked that ambience lurking in the background to have more time to shine like it does around the 4:10 mark - but overall I'm very into it, even if the EP has given me 200% of my recommended dose of 303 for the next few weeks.



Turning around in terms of sound with a bit from that ADULT. EP I brought up last time. One thing I love about about ADULT. is that they are doing a fantastic job of making most of their discography available on Bandcamp, including things that were super rare before. The extremely on brand titled Let's Feel Bad Together EP was previously a Beatport exclusive - but you could also get an 'Official Bootleg' CD of it from their website that they would sign with a little personal message for you too. It's from 2008, so just after the release of the nihilistic and intense punk of Why Bother? - though that LP would sometimes leave the electronics behind, Let's Feel... is very much in the vein of ADULT. releases of old.

It waxes and wanes though, tracks like Dance Avoid feel more like their Resuscitation-era sound and shares some DNA with the album immediately after this The Way Things Fall, whereas album closer Sideways feels much more like the fidgety anxiety of Why Bother>. There's not a dull moment on this EP, each of the four tracks are pretty relentless and don't let up until the timer runs out. They feel a little less fleshed out than the mainline album tracks or even some of their other EPs, but I don't want to make out like that's a negative - it makes everything here feel like the 'best of' of an extended jam session or even some live improv.

This is most easily spotted in Nicola's vocals, there aren't really verses to speak of here so much as her playing around with the titles of the songs, most obviously on Dance Avoid with lines like 'Dance avoid, dance avoid, dancing in a void', but again that just plays into what I mentioned above, and even if the content is much more simple than usual, her trademark delivery does an amazing job of matching that Punky atmosphere. I've picked both Today and Dance Avoid here because I think the two show off the two 'moods' of the EP really well (and because Avoid came on as I was typing and I fell in love with the intro all over again).





I also got around to getting the other two thirds of the Evoked Potentials series from E.R.P. (AKA Gerard Hanson or Convextion). They're super small and bite sized at two tracks each, I feel like the label could have compiled them into one, especially considering the original vinyl releases were limited to a couple hundred copies but hey ho. About the tracks themselves though - E.R.P. has fast become one of my favourites over the past year or so, the brand of hi-tech electro slash techno released under the name just really appeals to me in the same way all the early 90's Artificial Intelligence series from Warp does. I know that's a comparison I trot out all the time when talking about this kind of sound but it's more apt than usual this time, parts of the Evoked Potentials series sound a hell of a lot like the stuff B12 was (and continues to) make.

And you'll find yourself among good company if you're into this style of electro - Discogs recommends stuff like Drexciya, The Other People Place and early Underground Resistance - that's especially true here, of all the E.R.P. I've posted so far, Repose most certainly feels more in line with that kind of style. I just adore the spacey vibes on this one, it's very easy to get lost in - the stripped back ambient turn in the last quarter is just divine. It's not quite dethroned the Alsoran EP as my favourite release from him (But there is some bias there as it was the first thing I'd heard as well), but I will happily snap up more of this sound whenever I find it. My only complaint is a very nit-picky one: for some reason there's a good chunk of silence on the end of this one, it ends at around 6:40 for reference.



And that'll do it for this time. I'm a little late on this one because I took an easy day off yesterday because I was feeling a little sick, but that actually gave me time to listen and hash out some thoughts on these picks so it wasn't *too* bad I suppose. I'll be back soon enough with more but until then - as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Short Sharp Shot

A break from tradition today as there won't be so many words as usual. I'm just feeling a little tired, I think the twee nothing statements about how valued we are and mental health 'awareness' is finally getting to me a little - I know for a fact that the sheer prevalence of this mask off selfishness, the 'fuck you, got mine' mentality has me absolutely disgusted.

Or as one internet user perfectly summarised it:

Trying not to sound like your average 'hurr faith in humanity lost' edgelord there, but it does always bother me that out in the media everyone has to be all smiling faces all the time - you are allowed to have other emotions! The talking heads come on asking why there's a rising mental health problem among young folk and yet also never show a single hint of anything other than an obviously fake saccharine attitude.

It's ok to admit that things aren't all that great, to do otherwise is at best insincere and at worst simply unhinged. I'm gonna stop here because I am aware it's already getting a bit preachy but I just had to get something down. Feel free to skip over all this and just get to the tracks below.









And as always, stay safe and enjoy the music

-CVF

Think of Fire

I'm taking one of those turns again where I get a bit ticked off to put it mildly. I normally let stuff go pretty easy because for a while now I've tried to live a life that's mostly free of negativity, but I do turn bitter every now and then, but that's OK, it's healthier to release than just sit there slowly building up into a foaming rage. Enter the past couple of days... If I were at all religious I would definitely consider them tests that's for sure. A combination of entitled arseholes, general idiocy and frankly plain irresponsibility has me quietly seething off to one side but I'm going to try and follow my credo of limited negativity - and do a controlled release with some audio assistance.

Yves Klein - La marque du Feu ['The Trace of Fire'] (1961)

Death Magic again sprang to mind. So many pieces of this album could go here, but for instant impact it has to be SALVIA. The sheer sudden intensity of it makes it nigh on perfect for just this occasion. The machine gun beat appears unrelenting, it blindsides you and contiunes to layer on the intensity. And just when you think you can no longer breathe - suddenly you're falling free in a daze. But it's not long before it all comes crashing back down again around you. The cycle repeats once more, only this time the serenity stays. A short and brutal track, SALVIA is the musical equivalent of a sucker punch.



Coming up again after the recent mention - ADULT.'s later work is also a great shout for this theme. While the Why Bother? album is sometimes a little too noisy for my tastes - the EP before it D.U.M.E. really hits the spot, maybe it's the overall shorter length making it easier to digest. At any rate - Hold Your Breath is another great distillation of this mood and perhaps the most obviously Punk influenced tune from ADULT. I've mentioned so far. It might not have the sudden plunge of SALVIA, but it does have Nicola Kuperus putting in one hell of a performance - her frantic delivery wavers between cold and calculating to borderline manic throughout, giving the whole proceedings a beautifully disjointed feel.



I couldn't do a post in this vein without mentioning this one. The Autumnal Crush will destroy you in the most pleasent way. The opening is slightly misleading on this front, but it's not long before things get fairly intense. Something I always loved about this track (and sort of gets spoiled if you read this before listening) is that it absolutley does not let up, the intial post-introduction is already pretty heavy, but it just keeps on going and going with more and more layers - an experience befitting of the Crush in it's title. But like SALVIA, it does eventually let go, and for the remainder of its 7 minute runtime it becomes a much calmer beast. And with that, it's probably the most fitting track here by a long shot. Truly, if there were a piece of Clark's work I could point to that I think best demonstrated why I use that 'Melodic Grit' descriptor - Autumnal Crush would be up there.



Apologies for the slightly shorter (and a little more poetic than usual) post - I didn't really plan this one out! I could have put a couple more selections here but as I said in the opening paragraph, I'm trying not to dwell on things too much these days. And I don't know about you but I certainly feel a little better having written this out and immersed myself in that sound.

I'll be back later this week with more, but until then - as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

Breaking the Barrier

Alex Colville - January (1971)
It's taken some doing, but I am happy to report that as of now (which will be yesterday when you read this) we have hit the point in blog restoration that there are more posts restored than are left in 'draft' status. It's a little milestone that I've been seeing slowly come closer thanks to the new Blogger UI, and a process that's actually been fairly painless for the most part, and not quite as tedious as I thought. The older posts I'm hitting now often need more work than usual so expect that to slow down a bit, but I'm pretty happy with the progress.

It's not just going to be me patting myself on the back though! I've returned to poppier tides for the first time since New Year's - after double checking I'd not talked about some of these already, I've picked out a nice selection of the vibe I'm feeling at the minute. Starting with another piece from Helen Marnie of Ladytron's first fully solo effort Crystal World, it has a bit of a similarity with their later output but still manages to carve it's own niche - it's very far removed from the early Ladytron I posted not too long ago at any rate. Submariner is far and away the longest track on the album at a weighty 7 minutes, but it makes excellent use of them as the production ebbs and flows throughout, building to crescendos that before slinking away to make room for crystalline breakdowns. And of course there's Marnie's vocals, as they were in Ladytron, an absolute joy to listen to.



And falling back in with ADULT. I've not talked about The Way Things Fall much at all really, (though that's partially due to me overdosing on their early work back when) which is a shame because it's a solid entry in their discography. I'd hesitate to call it a full on pop record but it's certainly one of their more accessible releases, a return to more melodic structures compared to the punky, nervous noise of the album before it - the suitably nihilistically titled Why Bother?. And for as much as I love the frantic stabs and shouted out vocals of tracks like 'I Feel Worse When I'm With You', I think I may like the more sedate side of this album a touch more. That's not to say that Nicola Kuperus doesn't get to inject the proceedings with a little bit of their trademark melancholy, the opening lines being "Will we live like this forever?". The production is stellar as usual too - the slightly retro electronic bias in me being catered to quite heavily for sure - there's some amazing melodic breaks and solos to change up the pacing, the real standout for me is that entire final quarter of Nicola dueting with the synths.



And finally, going back a fair bit to an album I planned to do a Retro Review of (That still might happen!) - Ford & Lopatin's Channel Pressure. The story of Ford & Lopatin is an interesting one - formerly known as Games, they made waves with in the chillwave scene with two EPs in 2010, my favourite being punnily titled That We Can Play - followed that up with some absolutely class and slightly Vaporwave mixtapes before having to change their name to Ford & Lopatin. Come 2011 they take part in the Adult Swim Singles program with a track that would appear on this album 'Too Much MIDI (Please Forgive Me)' among others, dropped the album and then.... just kind of faded away. As we've heard nothing since 2011 I think we can assume that the project is over - both Lopatin and Ford going on to other things as Oneohtrix Point Never and Young Ejecta respectively.

It may have only been a short time they were around, but I can think of only a few releases they did that I didn't really enjoy. Channel Pressure is not one of them - a fantastic album, brilliantly executed and aesthetically on point in both audio and visual. I've chosen one of the tracks that I always thought was sorely overlooked. I didn't expect it to be, as it has a pretty wild video that dabbles in BDSM and some kind of strange VR torture(?), one that I fully expected to be a cult video like DyE's 'Fantasy' (Warning, incredibly NSFW). It's a little tricky to find these days, just googling it will give you a bunch of music blogs talking about it at the time with flash players that no longer work - I tracked it down via the production companies website in the end, you can watch it on Vimeo here!

I did want to talk about the video a little, before I even saw it, I Surrender sounded sensual to me (even if the video goes in a surreal direction with it) and it was a nice moment of serendipity - that thick, heady bassline sets the tone from the get-go and stands out as unique among the album's overall sound. The same's true for the whole thing really, Compared to the rest of the album which is mostly upbeat with abstract interludes sprinkled throughout, Surrender is a slow jam evocative of their earlier Vaporwave tapes - a trait shared with the track before it, the R&B styled Break Inside. The album is definitely worth a look if you like what you hear here - the whole thing is a love letter to an 80's style sound but without the now cliché trappings of other times that style's been aimed for.



Got a little longer than I planned at the end there, Here I was thinking this would be a short sharp one! Maybe I'll have to write out and edit that Retro Review after all! I'll be back soon enough with more - but until then, as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF

One Year Older

It's that time of year again where by happy coincidence the blog and I share a birthday. It's been a bit of a rollercoaster for the last couple, this year doubly so. But I'm not to wallow in the current state of things (too much), in instead I thought I'd put together a list of tunes from the last 12 months or so that have really meant a lot to me.

Helen Frankenthaler - Yearning (1973)

Starting with back in December / January where I revisited the Everything But The Girl album Walking Wounded, a great album on its own but I had yet to check out the fancy expanded edition put out some time ago that has a second disc of remixes and the like to boot. It's there I would find what quickly shot up the list of my favourite of their works: a demo of what would become Before Today on the final album called Above The Law. I've always loved Tracey Thorn's vocals since I was first introduced to them on Massive Attack's Protection, her delivery is often really powerful and carries so much feeling. I mentioned last time I posted this that track sticks out on the album: being a demo it's got a slightly rough sound in comparison to the super polished smoothness of the rest of Walking Wounded. Which on paper wouldn't be something I'd like, in fact I probably would have argued it as a negative. But after spending a lot of time with this one I think it works perfectly, it twins beautifully with Thorn's impassioned, almost desperate delivery on the choruses.



Keeping it older for now, I put Garoad's soundtracks for VA​-​11 HALL​-​A back in rotation after a long absence, they're delightfully retro in parts. This one in particular could easily be a shared B-Side with Mitch Murder's brand of synthwave-esque stuff. I didn't realise how much I'd missed this kind of melodic slow jam until I had them back in rotation. It makes for very good 'doing stuff' music as is to be expected from the OST of a Visual Novel about bar-tending, I knew when this was one of the first tracks you hear that it was going to definitely be something that was almost designed for me. Garoad's done some other soundtracks and a solo EP that I still desperately need to check out, but like so many other things that I love I'm trying to pace myself and not dive in all at once and get burned. With a sequel to VA​-​11 HALL​-​A on the horizon the equally punnily titled N1RV-Ann-A, here's hoping we get more sweet synths heading our way soon.



And of course I can't write a post about favourites of the last 12 months without mentioning Rei Harakami. I simultaneously can't believe it took me so long to finally get fully immersed in his works but am also very happy that I waited until no because I feel like I appreciate them more now that I would have years ago. And really what is there to say about Harakami's work that I haven't said already? Supremely lush synth work, incredibly smooth productions and an ambient sensibility make for some electronic music that is just an absolute joy to listen to. 2005's Lust is a perfect diving in point, home to some of my favourite 'Harakami in a nutshell' tunes such as the title track. But since I've talked about that one a couple of times already, lets look at Come Here Go There instead. It fits the bill of everything I've mentioned so far, with the addition of a surprisingly intense kick drum being added for the final minute or so. It's just divine, if your taste is at all similar to mine, you absolutely need some Harakami in your collection, perhaps not this album, but go exploring the discography!



It has also taken me a very long time to branch out when it comes to ADULT., partly because I made that mistake of diving headlong into their discography and picking up almost half of it in one go a few years ago so for a long time I didn't feel like I needed more. Enter this year though where I finally got around to looking at their stuff that was newer than what I had. After a couple of tries I settled on The Way Things Fall, which was again almost tailor made for me. It was the punky electro of the ADULT. that I had, but this time with an almost more electropop edge. I'd almost say that this makes this album in particular more approachable than their early work but it's not a huge change. If you like this, there's a high chance you'd also like Anxiety Always for example. The biggest change here is Nicola Kuperus' vocals being more dynamic, as much as I love her stoic monotone on tracks like Hand To Phone I don't think it would have worked as well here so it's a welcome change, her lyricism remains on point; full of visceral imagery and interesting rhythms. Not to overlook Adam Lee Miller's production, the nervous synths throughout this track are perfectly selected and the little bits of 808 that poke through every now and then really lend themselves to that now slightly retro edge that ADULT. have.



And finally, HEALTH's Death Magic. It's not their newest release sure but it's a damn fine album. The whole thing is permeated with this kind of nihilistic outlook that is thematically completely at odds with the thundering instrumentals and I adore it for that. There are lots of little flourishes that make HEALTH even further blur the lines between a traditional band and an electronic act; only after looking up a live version of this track did I even know that what I thought were synth pads backing up the whole thing is actually just a really distorted (or otherwise messed with by pedals) Guitar. I've mentioned before how much I like the more electronic direction they took starting with this album but it bears repeating, it's like they tapped into a sound that I didn't know I needed until I heard it. I've been holding onto Dark Enough for a while now for just such an occasion as I think it perfectly sums up all I've talked about above. Whenever it comes up I cannot help but listen to it in full as soon as I hear that incredibly powerful intro.



I think that'll about do us for today. I didn't cover some stuff I had planned because in hindsight it would have clashed with the overall vibe of this post, but that's OK because it would have been a little long that way too, it'll easily roll over into the next post. As always: Stay safe and enjoy the music all,

-CVF

Retro Reviews: ADULT. - Resuscitation

Keeping things slightly electroclash as I cover another album from days gone by in my collection. There was a time not too long ago where I finally took proper deep dive into ADULT., I'd had a couple of their tracks in circulation but every time I'd tried to properly dip my toe in I remember not super digging what I'd found. Turns out I was just looking at the wrong end of their releases and the early work is supremely up my alley. Like so many artists and genres out there it can be difficult to know that though, and that's where I come in (As this post was what I had in mind when I started this series!).

Let's get into it then, allow me to introduce you to ADULT., a duo hailing from Detroit and consisting of Adam Lee Miller and Nicola Kuperus, today we'll be talking about their 2001 release; Resuscitation.

Resuscitation is an ideal starting point if you are new to ADULT. It's *technically* not an album, instead being a compilation of bits and pieces of their releases until then, with some alternate mixes put in here and there which makes sense given the title. The reason I think it's an ideal starter is that all the components that make ADULT.'s aesthetic are there, from the slightly surreal photography of band member Nicola Kuperus' that adorns almost all their releases, to the skeletal electro of the opening track Lost Love. While I do love Kuperus' photography I must say that I do think sometimes it doesn't fit the sound of their releases, but it does certainly give them a distinctive aesthetic that is incredibly evocative of Electroclash as a whole (as much as the band themselves dislike that term being applied to them), that slightly seedy high life vibe a la Kittenz & Thee Glitz from the same year.



It's not long before we hit a highlight though, Lost Love might've been a solid demonstration of the vibe ADULT. are going for, but for me Hand To Phone and all it's variants is one of the best things they've done. I'm no stranger to this one, it's been kicking around my library since the mid 00's and I have yet to tire of it. For me, this is potentially an even better example of what the band is all about; slightly rough electro all tied together with the slightly treated dry delivery of Nicola. This along with a few other of their productions around this time like the remix of Tuxedomoon's No Tears are the embodiment of that punky Electroclash sound that was around at the time. The only thing I think it's missing is some of Kuperus' more visceral lyrics, but there's plenty to get stuck into on this compilation yet.



A bit of a cop out here as I shamelessly copy/paste some thoughts I had on this one from a republished post not too long ago, but the truth is even if I'd re-typed this it'd just be the same opinion but with different wording, let's throw it over to past me now: The production on Side-Swiped does a fantastic job of complimenting the vocals and creating the dark and slightly unnerving atmosphere, the way the synth effortlessly slides in after the title drop around 1:40 is just fantastic and makes everything feel like it's plunged into slow motion for a second or two.
Back to original thoughts: it's this darker edge that immediately springs to mind for me when discussing ADULT., though I feel that it's not as pronounced on this compilation as others. I chalk it up to me picking up a whole bunch of ADULT. stuff at once when I was first beginning to listen, so all the releases are kind of amalgamated in my head.



There are a couple of instrumentals scattered here and there too, I've skipped over one so far in Mouth To Mouth, which is a lumbering wobbly number full of hoover style synths. Your Lies by contrast is from the same school of sound as Hand To Phone, which tracks as it's on the same EP, New-Phonies. I haven't given adequate praise to Adam Lee Miller's production outside of that brief mention above yet, ADULT. is a duo after all, and what better time to talk production than on an instrumental. Miller's work with ADULT. is remarkably versatile, jumping between bouncy electropop, downtempo electro and the more Punky sound almost effortlessly, and throughout it all does not compromise the overall aesthetic that makes the band. His production work is distinctive and works excellently either on its own, or twinned with Kuperus on the vocals.



A bit of an outlier in terms of sound, Skinlike lacks that darker edge that say Side Swiped had, and you could almost be forgiven for thinking it was an out of character Electropop piece from the duo if you weren't paying attention to Kuperus' decidedly anxious lyrics. This version is a slightly restructured version of the (Nix Mix) that appeared on the Nausea album, aside from the intro and some extra breakdowns there's not too much different, though this version is slightly longer. This revisiting restructuring is present on a few tracks on this compilation (hence the Resuscitation name). I think it's an interesting if slightly strange approach, these aren't really remixes so much as slightly tweaked versions of already existing ones, but as an artist myself I can sympathise with wanting to rework some older pieces and fix little imperfections you spot here and there. There's certainly no George Lucas-level 'remastering' going on here, and at least they are labelled as different mixes to avoid confusion.



I'm aware that despite my obvious love of the vocal side of this compilation, it may not be for everyone. Even if that's the case I would urge you to check out the full compilation, as I mentioned there are a couple of instrumentals and if the vocals aren't for you there is still a lot of brilliant electro to get stuck into. As for the compilation itself I think it's a great 'best of' style collection of the work of ADULT. up until that point, despite being made up of bits and pieces of various EPs and the like it has a real consistency which almost makes me treat it as an album rather than a compilation. That being said I do feel that the first half is stronger than the second, (though the trilogy of Side Swiped, Your Lies and Skinlike towards the end is amazing) but that may be my bias talking as that part of the compilation is made up of two of my favourites of theirs; the New Phonies EP and Nausea.

The compilation is relatively easy to get hold of if you'd like, ADULT. have quite the active online presence and in fact just put out another album this year. Likewise, the label that re-issued this compilation, Ghostly International, is also fairly active so the compilation is super easy to get your hands on: via Bandcamp, directly from Ghostly's site or your digital music vendor of choice. Though do be aware that the while the digital versions have some bonus tracks in the form of additional EP B-Sides, it does omit the instrumental track Private Conversations that was present on the original CD, you may have to do some digging if you want a 'complete' version.

That wraps us up for today, I've been keeping things fairly consistent for a while here but I may begin to slow down a little in the coming weeks, both because I'm finding it a little harder to write but also I think I could space these posts out a little better. Nothing should change beyond it being a little longer before a new post goes up! And as always, stay safe and enjoy the music.

-CVF