Customer Reviews

Love Songs to the Source

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

STYLE
Vocal and instrumental downtempo dub. Love Songs To The Source sees Bluetech taking his sound in a new direction - the effervescent dub elements are still here, the clean electronica too - but now a much stronger organic reggae/funk influence is present. There is something of the early 1980's reggae movement reflected in these new songs, many featuring female and some male vocals. In keeping with this new emphasis, there are a lot of brass sections, wah guitar effects, organ-like stabs and beats structured like real drum kit rhythms including the odd stark rim shot. The combination results in a delightfully sleek, smooth dub sound in contrast to some of the dark lumbering albums of the genre. Some bouncy electronic instrumentals and dreamy chillout compositions more in keeping with past releases are also present - the warm, relaxing 'Escape' suggestive of a gentle sunny afternoon reverie.


ARTWORK
As always Bluetech imagery is sharp and engrossing. The front cover montage is full of intriguing detail: a human torso reminiscent of a Rembrandt dissection painting combines anatomic elements with graphic embellishments that rise and burgeon upward, outward into a splash of colour that centres on a bright human eye ball. My promotional copy is a digital download and so I can't really be sure of the exact layout of the hard copy - however, the pdf file indicates around 8 panels of high quality graphics with complete lyrics, credits, website details and an inspirational verse.

OVERALL
With Love Songs to the Source the prolific Bluetech presents his latest studio album and follow up to the 2009 release The Divine Invasion - two EPs having filled the gap between. This time in keeping with the more dub/reggae centred sound the music is delivered via Canadian label Interchill. It appears that having fully established himself as a top notch artist of notable quality, with various aliases to satisfy his more ambient and techno yearnings, Bluetech feels free enough to stray further from his signature sound and experiment with collaborative recordings. Love Songs To The Source features vocal performances from Dr. Israel, Katrina Blackstone, Mari Boine, Lady K, Tina Malia and Lynx. In addition Jamie Janover plays dulcimer, Russell Scott and Luke Solman play horns and KiloWatts shares some production and programming duties. There are fourteen tracks here in total with audio samples available at the Interchill website.

one of the few known successful atempts of introducing live vocals into electronic ambient dubbadelica, so rare that it has to be mentioned !!!
Artwork seems amazing (I just have the electronic version, can't wait to receive my CD copy!)

This 2010 "Love Songs to the Source" Bluetech album smacks of the fascinating Bluetech music style, yet it stands somewhat out / apart from their other albums, in music style and vocals :) It is not immediately accessible for this reason, but given some listening one realizes that it is truly a peaCeful and relaXing collection ... of Love Songs :)

Evan does it again, only this time with the help of some others. some singing and unusual instrumentation on this cd makes this one of the best Bluetech releases. Very mellow, yet upbeat,similar to his other works. As I continue to listen to it, it really unfolds into the masterpiece Evan has come to deliver time and time again. pick it up, you will love it!

Many times when a seasoned veteran of a musical genre gets reviews (sources besides Amazon are not that kind to this album) with a rating this low, it may be because the artist is growing in a direction that the audience may not like.

Unfortunately, even this isn't the case for Bluetech's "Love Songs to the Source." It's a pretty substantial step backwards into musical territory that has been canvassed - well canvassed at that - by other, less musical acts more than a decade ago.

The rub is, this album was released on Interchill, which is more common for this type of world music (think of something you might've heard on the Pure Moods compilations, like Mythos) than what Bluetech draws positive attention for - his at-times mindboggling chill dub that he has proven time and again he can make fresh - Prima Materia, Sines and Singularities, Phoenix Rising, even his alter ego's "Dreamtime Submersible" and "Borderlands" show what he can do in different ways.

In many ways, listening to Love Songs to the Source is a bad case of déjà vu - you pretty much know what's coming around each bend and you've heard it before.

"Waiting for Initiation" and "Polychrome Petroglyph" are among my favorite tracks. Of course, these are the ones that sound more at home on one his releases on Aleph Zero. The good news is I think after this album, Bluetech is going to be poised for an exciting return, hopefully of the Aleph Zero variety.