Kongestion by SHXCXCHCXSH
Rave seven ways
Everything old will be new again some day (apparently) but Rave music never really got old, did it? Fell out of fashion perhaps but it's remained discreetly evergreen in its spirit and influence on other musicians since the heady days of early hardcore. Adopting elements of Rave music is a sure-fire crowd pleaser in electronic music production and that's what SHXCXCHCXSH have done on their fourth album for Avian.
Like The Caretaker, who turned big room band classics into looped, lo-fi nostalgia, the Swedish pair have dished up the quintessential air horn sound seven ways; with each track similarly following the deterioration of The Caretaker, with recognisable Rave horns on opener Korg, methodically pulverised into new shapes across successive courses, sounding progressively less Rave and more unpronounceable (i.e. SHXCXCHCXSH) as we go. By the time we reach fifth helping Esti the horns are virtually impossible to appreciate out of context. Like their previous albums though, the balance of sweet and sour is harmony exemplified, with more bold and brutal flavours like Gest offset with sweeter palate cleansers like Stio (this latter closest in style to their earlier work circa Linear S Decoded).
The spirit of Rave lives on!