 |
MH-265 Qua - Q&A  Q&A, the latest release from Melbourne, Australia’s Qua (Cornel Wilczek), is a collection of twelve compositions brushed with strokes of guitar and electronics on a canvas of drums provided by James Cecil (Architecture in Helsinki) and Laurence Pike (Savath + Savalas, Pivot, Triosk). Qua has made the mastery of breathing life into every blip his stock in trade, and Q&A is no different. This music is very live - there are more drums, guitar and analog synths than computers - and explores tempos far north of those found in his previous work. In addition to the top-flight musicianship on display, Qua's deft knack for arrangement adds an uncanny vibrancy to each zero and one. With his feet on the dance-floor and his hand on vintage equipment, Qua has taken one step closer to perfecting his painstaking yet playful style. |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Reviews Summary |
| Think Stereolab's highly-textured instrumental/synth arrangements gone further out there, and you're getting close to what's happening here. Highly recommended. - 3D World / It might be one of the year’s most fun albums. - Cokemachine Glow / A fun, blippy style that can hit hard, scale it back, or get bodies moving. - Alarm Press |
| Reviews | |
|
| Hamilton isn’t exactly known for his electronic scene, yet we’ve spawned Caribou, the Junior Boys and many others. So if you wanted an easy reference, you might call Qua (aka Cornel Wilczek) the Caribou of Melbourne, Australia – a town with a scene outsiders are only starting to hear about. There are other similarities to Caribou, and not just in the moments where the swirl and psyche is literally reminiscent of the artist formerly known as Manitoba. Wilczek’s music is danceable and poppy without being obvious (in many respects, danceable without being dance music). Songs are peppered with 8-bit bloops (“Ritmo Giallo”) and vocoders, blending rock sounds and dance beats and early electronic sounds; sometimes you want to call it YMO Soundsystem. Elsewhere, Qua branches out with unusual progressions; the drum sample of “Circles” starts off Motown and somehow winds up Boredoms. He even nods towards big beat, but pulls back on the associated bombast. Despite the various styles and influences, Q&A flows and holds together well. Q&A isn’t his first album, but it is a fine introduction to the artist. - !Earshot |
