| What's that? A FEMALE making electronic music? Pardon my sarcastic misogynistic comments, but that seems to be a common topic of conversation concerning Riz Maslen of Neoptropic. It should also be known that Neotropic on occasion, makes some great fucking music. It's not entirely electronic, catering equally to fans of jazz, post-rock and pretty much anyone who's a sucker for generally pleasing melodies and complex arrangements of strings, guitars and glockenspiels. The album begins bouncing between light and dark sounds settling on the latter with the introduction of "Magpies" an epic piece with haunting vocal arrangements that would give Massive Attack goose bumps. Neotropic does not favor any particular instrument on this album, bringing out everything at her disposal for the even more epic tracks that follow. On "Feelin' Remote" a crunchy filtered breakbeat clashes with beautiful string arrangements and bells at first, but a lone harmonica that echoes the feeling of being a wallflower makes it all come together. The album's concluding two songs bring back Maslen's lovely, melancholy voice through an array of filters. White Rabbits is a fine piece of work, and possibly one of the most pleasant surprises this year. Oh yeah, and did I mention she's a woman? - Basshead |
2XLP/Out Of Print