TAIGA

TAIGA is definitively an avant-garde album. It smells avant, looks prog, and acts -garde. There's an absurd amount of experimental elements infused in each song. I found myself listening to the tracks over and over because there's just so much to discover every time it's heard.

It's very clear the focus on the rhythm and percussion instruments, as well a wide array of instruments to bring different sonorities to their songs. Overall, it reminds me a lot of tribal music. Not only the percussion but the calmness and vocal style.

There are two main features in this album: the first being the guitar, which is sometimes gentle - such as the mellow, delicate intro of SAI - and sometimes distorted; the second being the musicianship of the percussionists. Another important characteristic on TAIGA is the presence of electronic noises, ranging from heavily distorted background guitar to drone-esque sounds. They complement the songs and help each of them feel unique.

The vocals are also important to bring the ambiance of the songs. There's often high-pitched screams, wheezing, rat noises, and whatnot. While the background vocals are mostly pleasant, the main vocals are - I assume propositionally - horrific: raw, poor, and in a certain way natural. It brings the feeling that it's not a professional singer, but a regular person, who is singing. And this is NOT a compliment. It DOES fit the album, but it's HORRIBLE. I mean it.

Each track is unique, which although all have the same concept - tribalistic percussion and experimentalism - it's still managed to make them different. I find the best track to be ATS: the first part soothing, with - unprecedentedly - good vocals, imbued with electronic background noises; and the second, extremely distorted and relatively heavy, energetic, and rather funky. I can also highlight the epic and variant 15-minutes long SAI, the jazz-influenced UJA and the guitar-n-bass(-n-rat squeaks) trio duo KMS as other fine songs.

If you're into the avant-garde genre, you DEFINITIVELY should check this out. It's an experimental fountain gone right.

Share this OOIOO review

Social review comments () BETA

---

---

Review related links

• Send comments to Luqueasaur
• Report this review (#1674176)
• Buy OOIOO music online with PA partners
• Show all OOIOO MP3/Stream
• Go to OOIOO page for videos, full discography with ratings, reviews and much more
• Go to Taiga page for more details, where to buy and ratings/reviews
• Search the Forum for OOIOO related discussions