Music Reviews
Artist: Interface [ contact {at} interfacemusic {dot} net ]
Title: Beyond Humanity
Format: CD
Label: nilaihah [ info {at} nilaihah {dot} com ]
Distributor: Metropolis
Rated:



Title: Beyond Humanity
Format: CD
Label: nilaihah [ info {at} nilaihah {dot} com ]
Distributor: Metropolis
Rated:
Beyond Humanity, the third album from New York-based Interface, offers a refreshing earful of forward-thinking, futuristic electro-pop. This highly-charged melodic escapade expands outward from its understated opening track, "Gravity," accelerating from zero to sixty in the blink of an eye. Staccato beats and fluid arpeggios sizzle around the vocoded articulations of singer Eric Eldredge as "Age of Computers" kicks into high gear. "Mind Killer" shows off the programming and arrangement skills of Eldredge and bandmate Jon Billian, as this highly infectious dance track palpitates like a heart on the verge of infarction! The place slows a bit on "Wonderland," but cranks back up again on "Despair," a repetitious but energetic instrumental. "Stranger in a Strange Land" incorporates samples and some nicely executed vocal melodies in a very palatable fashion. The vocoder returns on the title track, "Beyond Human," along with some very familiar, euphonic retro beats and effects – musically and thematically, one must believe there’s a nod to techno godfathers Kraftwerk in here somewhere! "Insomniac" slams on the breaks, its slow, flowing beat giving it a much darker sheen than the rest of the album. "Nobody’s Hero" is definitely a cut above, and should emerge as a dancefloor favorite for clubgoers this summer. "Faith in Nothing" closes out the album nicely, though I had to laugh while listening to the chorus, as I was reminded of the nihilists from "The Big Lebowski" – we believe in nothing!As this is an Expanded Edition, six additional remix tracks (some from deleted releases on the now-dormant Tinman record label) have been included on the disc. Contributors to this effort include Assemblage 23, Stromkern, Combichrist, Imperative Reaction, and DJ Sean Tyas. "Clear Night," remixed here by Sean Tyas, originally appeared on 2002’s "Angels in Disguise." "Doubts and Fears," an 80’s new-wave influenced track originally available via the internet, was previously only available in CD format on the "State of Synthpop 2005" 5-disc set. The other remixes feature songs from this album that sound significantly different from the originals, making for a really nice mixture of styles. Jump on this!
id#2710
Review by: Ian Hall
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