reviews / 2009

HEXLOVE - Pija Z Bogiem

Name: HEXLOVE – Pija Z Bogiem
Item: Pija Z Bogiem
Rating: 7
Author: Antonio Ciarletta

2009 (Dreamsheep)

pop

by Antonio Ciarletta

Already active with an album on Holy Mountain Records, last year's "Knew Abloom", Zac Nelson aka Hexlove is someone who makes pop music without songs. Yes indeed, I remember there was a topic on the OndaRock forum where someone asked whether it was even possible to make pop music "without the songs", referring to the Pit Er Pat album.

Good old Nelson shows us that it is possible. How? By using repetition, arrangements and even melodic parts in unusual ways, creating discrepancies and contrasts between elements that, if fitted together conventionally, would sound entirely pop. Sharp edges instead of roundness, fragmentation instead of continuity, odd little detours even when the melodic flow seems not to need them (but in fact it really does...). And yet the mixture sounds pleasant to the ear, so much so that the two CDs (yes, it's a double album) slip by almost unnoticed.

Some tracks ("Herb", "Gamork") are then truly remarkable for their inventiveness, with electronics used in an intelligently non-invasive way. If he learns to dose his ideas better (at times almost overflowing), he'll become a great artist...

The latest, disastrous Animal Collective should learn something from this record. Oh, I almost forgot, "Pija Z Bogiem" was released on Valerio Cosi's Dreamsheep label.

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24/03/2009

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This article is an English translation of the original Italian text by Antonio Ciarletta, published on OndaRock.it. It was translated with the help of artificial intelligence, under the editorial responsibility of OndaRock's editor-in-chief, Claudio Fabretti.

Read the original in Italian · About the English edition