I hear a lot about dream pop these days\u2014but what about dream rock? <\/p>\n
Kowtow Popof\u2019s songs\u2014a swirling mix of electro-pop, roots-rock and magical thinking\u2014are like impressionist daydreams, moments and feelings and images that provoke, set to an implacable groove. What makes Popof\u2019s work stand out to me, though, is that at its core it seems to be all about vibe. It\u2019s not \u201cdoes B follow logically from A,\u201d it\u2019s \u201cdoes XJ cubed sound kind of cool if you throw it into a song next to an orange elephant that speaks Ukrainian?\u201d<\/p>\n
Which might sound like an exaggeration by yours truly until you read the first song title on this album\u2014\u201cAtaraxis (I Brake For Squirrels)\u201d\u2014and come to understand that \u201cI brake for squirrels\u201d is in fact the song\u2019s refrain and does in fact fit quite naturally into the song\u2019s hallucinatory groove, which layers otherworldly synthesizer flourishes over rootsy chunka-chunka guitar, a steady, assertive rhythm section and Popof\u2019s rather scruffy, urgent vocals.<\/p>\n
Again and again, Popof uses atmospheric synth effects to create a sort of dreamy distance while keeping the guitars and drums and vocals rawer, melding electronic dreaminess with the immediacy and urgency of more naturalistic tones and instruments. This unusual combination of elements and a focus on creating strong, repeated rhythm patterns creates the sort of hypnotic effect heard clearly in the second half of \u201cUncanny Valley,\u201d with its endlessly cycling electric piano and guitar figures over a canyon-deep groove, sort of a Tom Waits-backed-by-Kraftwerk fantasia. <\/p>\n
To the extent there\u2019s a narrative thread running through Tastes Like Armageddon<\/i>, it seems to be of the \u201csoundtrack to the Mayan apocalypse\u201d variety. At least that\u2019s what I gleaned from the one-sheet and a few stray lines of \u201cWhen You Reach Palodes,\u201d whose vaguely \u201980s synths paint an eerie, winding melody under and around Popof\u2019s increasingly intense vocals, the nimble, agitated rhythm section and distorted guitars.\u00a0 <\/p>\n
\u201cAlectryon At The Door\u201d slows things down for a surrealistic ballad before leaping into the downright cheery sounds of \u201cTime & Space,\u201d a tune that combines a steady-on rock beat, acoustic piano, electronic string section, Popof\u2019s most raw, upfront vocals yet, and yes, some wild little synth effects. There\u2019s a crossover vibe happening here that defies description, like early Springsteen in a mind-meld with A Flock Of Seagulls. The overall effect, though? Cinematic, that\u2019s the word.<\/p>\n
Highlights the rest of the way would have to include the haunting little synth figure at the heart of \u201cBeginning Of The End\u201d; the playful dopiness and relentless beat of \u201cLookin\u2019 4 Rock\u201d; and \u201cGadabout,\u201d a collaboration with Waterslide\/Arms of Kismet mastermind Mark Doyon that delivers a mix of Cars synth-rock and Van Morrison mysterious mysticism over yet another hypnotic groove. Closer \u201cTamp Down The Horizon\u201d starts out like a Coldplay tune with big piano out front until the vocals come in, when things go a little off-kilter, as they always do in a KP song.<\/p>\n
\u201cBlack Tourmaline\u201d might sum things up best in the end, though: a steady soulful pulse from piano, bass and drums, with Popof\u2019s bluesy guitar and vocals\u2014a bit Claptonesque here and there\u2014out front at first\u2026 and then the alien electronic sounds start to infiltrate, the rhythm section develops a strange hitch, and you\u2019re left to wonder: just what the hell is a \u201ctourmaline,\u201d anyway? (I\u2019ll save you the trip to Wikipedia: a semi-precious stone most commonly found in Sri Lanka.)<\/p>\n
Tastes Like Armageddon<\/i> is another entertaining effort from the vivid imagination of one of the more creative singer-songwriters out there (and I do mean out there). Dreamy to the point of bending reality, yet rocking in all the right places, this album is another head trip to the far side and back with the incomparable Kowtow Popof in the driver\u2019s seat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":31246,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"tags":[],"artist":[7909],"rating":[5617],"class_list":["post-42939","review","type-review","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","artist-kowtow-popof","rating-rating-b-plus"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42939","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/review"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42939"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/review\/42939\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31246"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42939"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42939"},{"taxonomy":"artist","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/artist?post=42939"},{"taxonomy":"rating","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyvault.adishjain.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rating?post=42939"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}