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LP
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EPR 066LP
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After three albums based purely on synthesizers, the Danish duo Videodrones take a leap by adding live drums and guitars to their latest album. A natural step, considering that Jakob Skøtt, one half of the duo, spends his time drumming in Causa Sui, as well as a slew of jazz-infused projects on El Paraiso Records. All basic tracks were recorded in an improv session at Jonas Munk's studio in Odense, capturing both synths and drums live. The expansion of drums adds a natural '70s groove, maintaining a spontaneous vibe that also soaks into the analog synths of modular wizard Kristoffer Ovesen. The improvised sessions were later honed, edited, and layered, bringing forth the best of both spontaneous ideas, as well a multi-dimensional approach bringing a new depth to Videodrones' extensive cinematic undercurrent of sounds. With the addition of echo and reverb drenched guitars, the duo is tapping into sounds in new realms yet strangely familiar. After The Fall may conceptually nod it's head towards a gloomy state of affairs, but akin to the Italian post-apocalyptic movies of the '80s, doomsday never felt this heady and funky before.
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LP
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EPR 052LP
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On their third album, the Danish duo Videodrones explore their kosmische take on synth wave further. Videodrones' first two albums tapped into short arabesque-like pieces, playing out like cues in a film. Atavistic Future sees them broadening out, with the two main tracks on the album clocking in at eight and almost 12 minutes respectively. And it's not only in the track lengths that Videodrones are reaching beyond: There is a wider range of influences and nods -- from the Phillip Glass Koyaanisqatsi-repetitions of "Church" to the Suzanne Ciani Buchla-bursts of on the title track. It's the seamlessly weaved together influences, that makes Atavistic Future tick. The album is based around improvisation and repetition, allowing ideas to drift and emerge -- catching fire at random. As always, most of the material were captured during a single prolonged day and night of jamming at Jonas Munk's studio, digging into his expansive collection of synthesizers. The pieces were then folded and reassembed by Jakob Skøtt -- maintaining the improvised spirit, where synths and float out of tune and clock, yet intricately detailed and ever changing -- bringing forth the best of both studio-production and jagged improvisation. As the title might remind you, we're always forgetting the most favorable traits of yesteryear -- in search of what's ala mode, we're missing what the future must have felt like in the past. Videodrones is a silver-clad reminder of what can come out of having keen eyes and ears in the past as well as the future -- leaving behind something vital for the present.
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LP
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EPR 041LP
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Nattens Hævn, the second album from Danish synth-improv duo Videodrones, dives deeper into their brand of throbbing synth themes from the goriest movies that never was. It's easy to hear the starting point of Videodrones: from Italian composers such as Fabio Frizzi, Marcello Giombini, Riz Ortolani, or even Morricone and Alessandroni at their most industrial. But Videodrones add a touch of previously unheard madness to their Giallo-themed synth-gasms. Based largely on improvisation, Videodrones tosses and turns -- it's like the thing is alive. Leaving a slimy trail of electronic musical styles in their wake, there's toxic levels of Italio disco, German kosmische music, new age, even some stabs at holy grails of '70s and '80s pop. The record culminates in a synth-proto-doom track, "Nattens Hævn" ("Revenge of the Night"). Videodrones improvisations are far from boring: chopped into smaller bits the album is of a suite-like nature. Keeping the odd, jagged energy of improvisation, every part adds to a whole, larger narrative.
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LP
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EPR 036LP
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Danish synth duo Videdrones are all about simultaneously channeling of the vibes of maestros, ranging from the epic choirs of Popol Vuh or Fabio Frizzi through the smooth gliding arpeggios of Tangerine Dream or Giorgio Moroder, even into Goblin or Morricone at their most abstract. But there's more to it than mere tribute. Mondo Ferox is the kind of album where electronic instruments take on a life of their own - Constantly in flux, changing direction and pace like that of the lives at the bottom of the sea. It's like a constant overture. These are sounds that the listener knows, but they're turning themselves inside out, bleeding into each other and losing themselves in the flow - Favoring emotion and impulse over logic and structure. Rather than repeating what's already been seen and heard, Videodrones re-melts the voices of cinema into something yet to be imagined.
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