Customer Reviews

Permanent Solution

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Proem, real name Richard Bailey drops another slice of pure, electronic bliss on the n5MD label, shortly after his last great release from Merck was unleashed to the public nearly a year ago. Proem's sixth proper full length to date shows Bailey moving in a more mature direction, and that's a good thing. Alomost completely gone are the bone crushing industrial beats that made up some of his early output--his classic, "Negativ" comes to mind. Not as brooding as the epic "You Shall Have Ever Been" and not as hip hop as my personal fave from Proemland, "Socially Inept", the vivid, melancholy melodies and rich, foggy textures are still here, though this time rays of light shine through. I listened to this cd often upon waking up earlier in the summer--it's that kind of music--the soundtrack to waking from a deep dream session. Now, with Autumn fast approaching my way, this music is even more suited to heavy rotation.

Richard Bailey makes music the way he wants, despite current trends. In a sense, taking cues from his IDM peers of an earlier day, Proem is a genre in and of itself. As long as Richard Bailey continues to make music this inspired I will indeed remain a fan who, as stated in his latest liner notes, continues to "love and support Proemland".

I've found things to enjoy about all of Proem's releases, but to date this album remains my favorite above all the others. To me, A Permanent Solution is a remarkably mood-evoking and emotional collection of songs, which is no small task for electronic music to achieve.

There are many intoxicating tracks: When Things Fall Apart, Blacker The Berry, Wall Of Knives 2 and the title track in particular. But it's the shortest song, Awake At 4am, that really stands out for me: two minutes and twenty two seconds of pure electronic/choral bliss. The title is dead on; I can't tell you how many times I've been awake at that exact time, various thoughts and emotions enveloping me -- and finding that this song sums up what I'm feeling perfectly.

I really can't do this album justice with my inferior description. Please listen to the samples here; you don't need to be an "IDM fan" to enjoy this release.

As it appears Amazon no longer has any copies available, I highly recommend going to the artist's website and ordering directly from him: just do a search for "proemland" and you'll find it. As of this writing there are 14 copies left for a very fair price.