Baast
Trident

ORANGE MILK RECORDS: ...Drop Shadow is the new album from New Zealand native Luke Rowell, and his first release under the Eyeliner name since 2015’s Buy Now (Beer on the Rug). The album is filled with highly composed MIDI pop music that covers a range of mood and emotion, from the uplifting Vince DiCola-esque opener to the beautiful digital vocal “ahh”s that merge into crashing waves at the end of “Keep Calm”. Rowell is using the language of instrumental dance and pop to express multiple themes, the first being personal loss and caring for a sick loved one, as reflected on the suite of songs from “Contact” to “Carry On”. At the albums center these songs form a sort of emotional core that also reframe lighter pieces like “Coffee News” as mini respites along the way.Drop Shadow also explores Rowell’s fascination with American and Japanese music culture and their many intersections, most evident to me on the upbeat “Drop Shadow” which utilizes the Korg Wavestatoion and M1 VST (which is the highest selling synth of all time in its hardware form) and lands somewhere between early house music, a Madonna instrumental, and something from a Nintendo 64 soundtrack.If the previous Eyeliner album LARP of Luxury can be seen as a sunrise record and BUY NOW as night time music, Drop Shadow goes from morning to night and back again. Songs like “Reverie” can feel bright and head-nodding on first listen, only to shift into a hopeful melancholy the second time through.

smilingc: ...Fritz Bootle, Jr. (F.J.) story began in Freeport on the Grand Bahama Island. While legendary balearic acts were honing in on a sun-soaked sound at Compass Point Studios on the nearby island of New Providence, you could ferry over to Freeport, to witness an equally flourishing scene of soca, reggae, and disco music. If you were lucky, you might’ve caught a live show from F.J. at one of the various clubs around town. During the early ‘90s, regulations on drug traffickers were quite loose which meant discotheques were in full swing and the island attracted a bevy of pleasure-seeking tourists. In addition to the clubs, fish fry’s at the beach were popular places for locals to grab a beer and some snapper to hear the DJs play new selections from neighboring islands. It was a lively time on the island, and F.J.’s music was meant to reflect the relaxed attitude that came with the archipelago lifestyle.