And yet again Jonathan Sharp takes on
another side-project, this time with Josh Finney and additional voice-overs
by Kyronfive. This six track ep is packaged in a beautiful 5.25 inch floppy
disc case with sleeve and info/art booklet containing two remixes, one
by labelmate Railgun and the other by Jason Perez of Evanscene.
- Mastered at the Igloo
by Gridlock, this new artist shows strong promise for newcomer label Gun
Music. Sharp's New Mind composition and programming is very apparent on
most of the tracks, but another edge surrounds the music as well. Together
Sharp & Finney assimilate intelligent abrasive percussion elements,
somewhat reminiscent of Gridlock's work (but not with the same density),
dark bio-organic samples and ominous patches of dark string arrangements.
Samples are still in conjunction with Sharp's programming, but provide
emphasis were needed, not as overused as most bands have in the past. Strongest
tracks lie in favor with 'Inphogeist', "Digital Chaos Junkie v.2" and Railgun's
mix of 'Zerolight.' One to consider looking into. (Nezzwerk
Seven)
Takshaka is a another new project of
Jonathan Sharp (New Mind, Bio-Tek, ex-Cybertec, Hexedene...), one of the
most active musician of the electro. New side-projects means new musical
direction, and, for Takshaka, J. Sharp and its accomplice Josh Finney have
chosen to take their keyboards in the realm of a complex, dreamy and very
modern sounding electronic music. Takshaka's sound on this first MCD is
hard to describe. All the songs are supported by very slow synthetic tunes,
on top of which several lines of drummings are mixed with samples, and
bleeps. At the arrival, these "20 minutes into the future" are quite energetic,
even though the melody is never forgotten. In a certain way, this reminds
of the slow tracks of the "DeepNet" New Mind CD. J. Sellekaers of
Xingu Hill is thanked in the booklet,
and a comparison with a lusher version of Xingu Hill, could be done. The
influence of Gridlock, who mastered the CD, is also present on the way
the drums are recorded.
- Very rich without being
chaotic, and quite futuristic, Takshaka seems to be focused on cyberpunks
themes. Both the artwork, very well executed, and the voice samples, deals
with the evolution of information technologies and
their relationship to mankind. All
in all, Takshaka could easily be what the soundtrack for Bladerunner would
be if it was written nowadays.
- This CD (or CDR, since
this is released on actual CDR) is clearly the best material J. Sharp has
done so far. It is an excellent bridge between New Mind and the newest,
more technoid, sounds of electronic music. Then, it's also a very good
first release for Gun Music. So, let wish good luck to Takshaka, and enjoy
these 6 tracks (which actually last longer than 20 minutes) (Totentanz)
This time around, Jonathan Sharp has
decided to indulge in electronically harsh noise and rhythms with partner
and label co-founder and graphic artist Josh Finney. Incorporating high
levels of grating electronic edge, deep bass fluctuations and crunching
beats, Takshaka bear a great resemblance to Gridlock. While the latter
achieve a greater level of darkness, Sharp and Finney are rawer, there
are more wires exposed. They also attempt to cover more ground, changing
faces sometimes. While tracks like 'Inphogeist' and 'MacArthur B.A.R.T.'
invoke the darkly hollow beats of Gridlock, 'Tri-Face' seems to meld technoid
power-noise with electronica, with overly successful results, rendering
a track well-suited to Gun Music’s agenda. 'Digital Chaos Junkie' assembles
noise, dub, electronica and soundscape music into an intriguing whole,
and labelmate Railgun provide (Nathan Moody) a mix of 'Zerolight', the
highlight of the EP. The most cohesive and steadily moving track, and point
to the seamless meshwork of sounds and images that Railgun will offer when
his Delta V arrives in February. The closer, 'Thoughts Rebroadcast' moves
in noticeably darker waters, with the denser, distorted beats returning
with very cold atmospherics.
- The packaging is also remarkable,
coming in a 5 ¼" floppy disk sleeve with sci-fi artwork by Finney,
it serves to further punctuate the statement Gun Music is putting out;
a collective inter-action of visual and aural art. (Phophor,
Electroage - 2000)