REVIEW: Elektragaaz — The Synaesthetic Picture Show, Now Playing Part 4 (LP)
The Synaesthetic Picture Show, Now Playing Part 4 is Elektragaaz’s newest addition in their ongoing Synaesthetic Picture Show series. Based out of New York City, Elektragaaz is made up of multiple musicians who come together to bring these tracks to life. Headed by a mythical figure that goes by Redband, Elektragaaz is on a quest to create movies in the mind of it’s listeners. The groups influences are all over the place, in a good way, it ranges from classical music to comic strips. This creative freedom gives The Synaesthetic Picture Show, Now Playing Part 4 a presence like none other.
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/SynaestheticPictureShow
The Synaesthetic Picture Show, Now Playing Part 4 is proof of how flexible instrumental music can be. Each song has its own structure, no song sounds like the other but this doesn’t disjoint the EP. If anything, it enhances the evocative melodies and highlights the theme of each song. All of which lends itself to creating a cinema in your minds eye. Elektragaaz has made music that has the capacity to inspire and entertain its listeners. The listener ends up closing the creative circuit by providing their own meaning and visuals to The Synaesthetic Picture Show, Now Playing Part 4. This presents an interesting opportunity in how masses consume music. More often than not when an artist releases their music to the world, whatever it meant to them, takes on new meaning. Elektragaaz has already factored that into their creative process, which turns the artist/listener dynamic on its head. In other words, Elektragaaz is truly making music for the people.
The most compelling aspect of The Synaesthetic Picture Show, Now Playing Part 4 is that it doesn’t need vocals of any kind to succeed. Elektragaaz switches the tempo and melodies enough to keep every track dynamic. An impeccable example is “Situation on Avenue B” which begins with an innocent opening that soon turns into a fast-paced anxiety inducing adventure, much like a Safdie Brothers film. There are so many emotions in this song that come through with quick percussion and surprising trumpets that pushing each other throughout the song. Another knockout is cinematic “CounterSpy”, I saw myself hopping across rooftops, moving through laser beams, only to get caught up in a foot pursuit. The Synaesthetic Picture Show, Now Playing Part 4 takes you on a journey of your own making.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/5QtmHwpS3Whd2ipuIdyFXv
Every song on The Synaesthetic Picture Show, Now Playing Part 4 is around three minutes in length. This gives listeners enough times to create their stories and enough time to groove in them. Like clockwork, every time a song ended I wanted more. I found myself realizing I could’ve listened to a 10 minute version of each of these tracks happily. The magic of this EP, is that by the time you start to mourn the loss of the movie you were in, you’re swept into another one.
Elektragaaz has created an interactive musical experience with their Synaesthetic Picture Show series. Every song has its own thing going on, which gives listeners imaginations permission to run wild. Who doesn’t love that? It’s early in the year but I already know this will be one of my favorite EP’s of the year. Get ready to listen to some good music and watch movies of own making with The Synaesthetic Picture Show, Now Playing Part 4, coming to you on February 8th!
Colin Jordan
