In the past 15 years, this reviewers ears have had the pleasure of being introduced to some of the most ingeniously sample-based albums -milestones if you will- such as DJ Shadow's Endtroducing and Amon Tobin's Bricolage and Permutation. The impact of this novice way to create albums proved to be immense although at the time their effort was mostly recognized only by critics and connoisseurs of the scene they where active in. Today, I have the pleasure to discus Dreamsploitation's sample-driven debut release The Soft Focus Sound of Today. Cunningly forming his moniker with a hint to the exploitation cinema genre, this brainchild of Canadian Chuck Blazevic got the name just right to describe his 'cut & paste' re-interpretation of orchestral melodic sounds of the 60s.
This 23 year old multi-instrumentalist, dj, composer, producer, record collector and guitarist of The Heavy Blinkers hailing from Nova Scotia didn't leave a rock unturned in his quest for the ideal soundbites for this album. Tapping into a wide range of audiosources such as film scores and foley recordings, obscure and forgotten vinyl releases as well as self recorded material and re-arranging, tweaking and most importantly using them in another context proves Dreamsploitation's intuition for the construction of a coherent composition. Build with more then merely a drumloop, a repetitive sample and a vocal line, The Soft Focus Sound of Today is a pleasant headrush of tiny samples constructed so that they form a blanket of Technicolour tints to crawl under and keep you warm. Like child playing with cutely bears under it's blanket, the unpredictability of this album is as surprising as it is coherent, no exuberant scratches but minimal shifts of creative playfulness.
Although scratch terms as scrible, flare and crab are slightly out of place when discussing The Soft Focus Sound of Today, this album contains quite some relish for the dj-skill junk. Samples looping in different measurements, cut up drumloops re-arranged on each passing keep a tempo in this album that will get to your sense of direction every now and then. The contrast of the Technicolour blanket of string and vocal samples and the unleashed drums don't allow much breathing space on the album, once the headspinning intro of the album is accompanied by it's groove, it's a one way ticket towards the end. Although there are several drumless and downtempo pieces, there's always the confronting, psychotic edge of Dreamsploitation's signature sound of. A sound filled with micro-samples, flowing yet always slightly abrupt.
And this is the greatest achievement -and perhaps in a way, flaw- of the album. Dreamsploitation lures you in his own sound universe right from the intro towards the end, and it's a brilliantly designed sound spectrum you'll discover. But in the end you're most likely not to be able to point out what catches your attention the most, what the thrills of the album where... The Soft Focus Sound of Today is much like a dream, an experience of memories viewed upon in a different, somewhat surreal way, something you want to remember in the morning when you wake up but most likely just end up wondering whole day what exactly happened... Dreamsploitation is not the new DJ Shadow or Amon Tobin, it's the third option; the new kid on the block that will amaze you and keep you wondering what will be next to come out of his absinthe fuelled sampler.
Website Dreamsploitation
Listen to The Soft Focus Sound of Today @ Last.fm
Dreamsploitation MySpace
Written for & published by The Silent Ballet webzine
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