| Eliot Lipp's The Outside (Mush) is definitely music with access to the inside, and it's some pretty good electronica with an emphasis on melody and incredible basslines. In other words, these are fully developed songs and not synth blasts (although I like that too). There are a few things this album reminds me of. Some of the songs sound like early to mid-80's soundtrack albums, a mixture betweenHarold Faltermeyer and Paul Hardcastle. Whereas their sounds may have been incidental, Lipp's music takes a lead and keeps on running without stopping, as if Giorgio Moroder went into the studio with these guys and said "we need to take it this way". You can hear some of these influences in the title track, where one can almost visualize movie credits and a scene of someone being arrested for wanting to bring on some Turkish hashish onto a plane. Other times, these songs sound like enhanced 8-bit productions. When I say enhanced, what I mean is if Prince was playing with NES, VIC 20, and a Gameboy instead of proper synths, but still had that same level of soulfulness, it probably would sound a lot like Eliot Lipp, who seems to take the lo-fi sound and brings it to the next level. It's great when he adds in a bit of techno and hip-hop influences, "The Machine And The Wind" grooves on a down tempo vibe as distant Malcolm McLaren chops and slices are placed over a synthesized orchestra. Imagine China-eraArt Of Noise with ZTT-era Aon and you get a sense of one of his styles. "Beyond The City" could easily be mistaken for something off of Moby's new album, same can be said for "See What It's About", which is a well known break treated with the kind of keyboard work that Monk Hughesor Malik Flowers would be proud to jam over. The Outside has a feel that's not unlike some of Money Mark's early solo work, where the songs were done with a plan in mind or on the spot, all with a spirit that simply says "this is my music and this is what I love to do, take it or leave it." Whether he continues on with solo projects or moves on to collaborate with others, I can see this guy becoming an influence for the next generation of music creators. - The Run-Off Groove |
