JAVIER MIRANDA

An excellent album!

Javier Miranda is a talented composer from Spain, whose music belongs to the prog electronic / ambient realm. Though he has been creating music since the 2010's decade, his first records were released until 2020's, including this one entitled 'Strange Imperfection', which features 9 compositions and a total time of 42 minutes of great and deep music.

It kicks-off with 'Opening', a short two-minute track which introduces us to his atmospheres, which can be dark and tense in moments, calm and clear in others. It leads to 'The Days of Our Lives', where synths opens spacey gates so he takes us to a cosmic trip. During nine minutes we can be mesmerized by its colorful sounds, by the variety of elements he introduces little by little because, though the rhythm could be repetitive, it is not plain thanks to those ever-changing elements. Then at minute three he puts some electric drums that contrast with the softness of those atmospheric synths, and then, his keyboards begin to make some kind of Tangerine Dream sounds, which can be related to some film scores. The intensity increases, you might even want to move your body at the music's rhythm, however the atmospheric bakcgroung is always present and will make you slow down your emotions a little bit.

'Swarm Days' has an interesting piano-oriented beginning, because it sounds both like a lullaby or like a horror movie soundtrack, and just like the previous song, the rhythm is repetitive and hypnotic, but never plain, he took advantage of his skills and likes to experiment and introduce new notes that produce new sounds and nuances. Important to say there are also guitar sounds here, not protagonist, but adding a new color to the already colorful synth palette. There is a change after minute six, so the music becomes quite ambient and atmospheric, like if you were walking over an unknown planet.

'Interlude' is another short piece that works as its title suggests; the spacey sounds prevail here, adding a bit of tension and uncertainty while the seconds pass. Then we have 'Keyholder' which is quite different from the previous tracks, here we have a constant fast tempo that take a little bit elements from the 80s electronic music from artists such as JMJ or even Kraftwerk. It is mesmerizing, you will be caught by its charm and want to dance a little bit, but don't forget you are actually in a trip through another planet or universe, so there is a moment where the music makes it clear with its spacey sounds. But... wait! Because there is rock music in the end of this track, Miranda challenges himself by introducing new elements and rhythms, so the result is quite surprising.

We are reaching the final part of the album, first with 'State of Mind' which has a stange combination haha, because it has a metronome sound which is a bit annoying to me, but at the same time a celestial chorus sound, which is quite beautiful to my ears. The song is developing, the intensity increases little by little until reaching a climax at minute four, when some drums appear, then it makes a major change and starts over with a whole new sound made by synthesizers, reminding me of Tangerine Dream once again. This might be my favorite track from this album.

It finishes with 'Ending' and yeah, the feeling it brings while listening to it is about goodbye. Somber piano notes at first that later are contrasted by subtle ones. And it just flows, like water.

I liked this album, it has been an interesting journey and I think Javier Miranda is quite talented, hope he keeps creating music this good.

This is the newest release by Javier Miranda, a talented composer from Spain who creates music that could be described as ambient, or prog electronic. Though I didn't know about his music until some months ago, I can say he has caugh my attention so powerfully, that I've listened to his whole catalogue a couple of times.

For this record entitled 'Departures', he gives us four compositions that share an avalanche of emotions. First we can listen to 'Everything', a piece that works with loops, so the repetition may embrace you or, if not in the mood, repel you. It has a peaceful atmosphere, but if you play it with nice headphones, you will perceive some other textures that provoke uncertainty or even tension, maybe this introductory track talks about all the emotions that a departure provide, the reason of the name "Everything". I don't know, and I am not familiar with Miranda's life, but judging from the cover art, I believe this is a very personal record.

''In Transit' is the shortest track here. It has slow rhythm with some piano notes and soft synth noises as background, and it continues like that for the whole 9 minutes. I am not sure if the transit he refers is just plain and simple, but lacks of emotions and surprises. It is actually like an endress two-note ride, but this time, boring.

There is a long 11-minute journey entitled 'The Descent', which seems to be a track about goodbyes, departures, death. There is a constant tension here, also it feels like being floating into the void, in limbo, like an anima in its judgement day. The tension increases after 3 minutes, the work of keyboard creates a dark but at the same time, kind of celestial sound.Then it follows the same repetitive path for the rest of the track, the good thing here is that despite having a plain rhythm, new noises and figures can be found every here and there.

The album closes with its longest track, 'Resurrection', the ambient adjective disappears here and the noise enters instead, creating a dizzy sound that make you feel like floating and spinning. Sounds like confusion, like trying to escape from something and feeling trapped, sounds like desperate. There is also a constant noise that can be annoying, but it may be the reflect of the chaos he wants to share, the chaos a resurrection might bring.

Well,this time I must admit I did not end up as happy as I thought with this record, I had enjoyed his previous albums much more, and was expecting for something that really moved me or made me feel excited, sadly, it did not happen here, however, it is a nice effort and I am sure it has a personal meaning to Javier Miranda, so as long as he keeps creating music and being inspired by his surroundings, he will surely create a masterpiece, sooner than later.

'False Hopes' is the title of this pretty nice single by Spanish composer Javier Miranda, which was released in May of 2020, while pandemics was striking our lives. At that time I remember we were aware of how unusual episode we were living, however, some of us were not aware of the impact this would have in our lives.

So when we experience something completely new, it is normal to feel fear, but if that new thing has negative connotation, I bet there is a moment when we all want to throw the towel and give-up, so in those low moments, as much as we want to keep the faith, our hopes fade away.

In some way, 'False Hopes' reminds me of the apocalyptic sounds of Goodspeed You! Black Emperor, with the difference that here we only have one musician behind his synths, keys and computers. The mood is desolated, like guiding us into a void, which I believe was the void some of us experienced during the lockdown. Our lives changed, we wanted them back, but those were all false hopes, because we were about to enter to what became "the new normal".

Do you want to have a moment of instrospection? Listen to this single and to Javier Miranda's music, it will take you into a deep journey to the self.

Electronic music has so many variants, but I believe they all have something in common: to reach the depth of our senses.

This is something that Spanish artist Javier Miranda understands and delivers in his music. A clear example is this single entitled 'Season of Good Rain', which I understand was recorded back in 2012 but released until 2020, in pandemic times.

What we will find here are 8 minutes of ambient oriented music that opens our doors of percepction (yeah, I know that sounds like a cliché), and show us an introspective journey through all our senses. The title is beautiful but also, a bit deceiving because how do we know a rain is good? Of course, this is a figurative sense and even quite subjective, because music, just like nature, is capable of embracing us during our best and worst moments.

' 'Season of Good Rain' invites us to close our eyes, to feel, to sense. We can take a look back in order to define our next steps forward. It has a melancholic sound, which in moments can turn to grief, or to hope, it depends on you. Of course, the experience is way better with good headphones, so you can appreciate the different layers, elements, nuances added while the seconds pass. If this was a 20-minute track instead of an 8-minute one, I would not complain.

If you need music that touches your soul, if you feel the need of healing, this might work, or at least, give you a moment of plenitude.

Though this is Javier's fifth studio album release, this is only my second encounter with a Javier Miranda product. Based on my favorable review and impression of one of his previous albums, 2021's Strange Imperfection and the raving reviews this album is currently receiving, I've decided to give it a listen.

1. "Everything" (11:03) a repeat loop of two quick-arpeggiated chords from a piano over which various strange, unsettling 21st Century almost-industrial sounds are mixed, all the while the original piano loop is slowly fading into the background is not quite enough, in my humble opinion, to warrant a whole eleven minute song; perhaps as an exploration, but not for publication and a demand of consumer compensation. (15/20)

2. "In Transit" (9:00) another two-chord repetition ad infinitum. There is a mood, an emotional provocation going on here, I'm just not sure what it is (supposed to be). (16.75/20)

3. "The Descent" (11:04) another (basically) two-chord keyboard repetition over which some post-apocalyptic horror sounds are woven cannot assuage my frustration and disappointment. (17/20)

4. "Resurrection" (13:07) are the dissonant oscillations of a flange effects box really what Javier thinks the "in- between"/Bar-Do sounds/feels like? Then bring into the mix the fact that he uses the sound of some preset rhythm track from a cheesy Casiotone-like drum machine to represent the gradual rise of the resurrecting being is comical, even farcical! I do appreciate, however, the gradual and variable speeds Javier uses to represent the dys- (or a-)temporal "processs" that resurrection might require. (21.5/25)

Total Time 44:14

I'm disappointed with Javier's regression. A pre-occupation with two-chord baseline formats is not enough without further threads in the weave, without ample development over the top. This pioneering musician can do and has done better.

C/three stars; a rather disappointing and unsatisfying offering to the lexicon of Progressive Electronic music. Unfortunately, it is my opinion that the four songs here are not representative of anything of long-lasting interest to the music world.

Dense and beautiful album. Following the titles seems like a journey through the life of an ordinary person. Very ambient and atmospheric. "Everything" is exciting as a sample of the birth of life. The second song "In Transit" contains a small rhythmic base that gives it color and has influences from the more ambient themes of Aphex Twin. "The Descent" is the darkest moment on the album with sounds that seem like a mellotron approaching dark ambient. The final "Resurrection" is absolutely suggestive and epic at times with very curious rhythmic moments and a beautiful final coda. Absolutely recommendable ambient/drone album.

Putting the Galician region of Spain on the map in the world of progressive electronic, ambient and drone music, JAVIER MIRANDA left his days with bands like Bristol, Crazy Breed and Kalte Sonne behind to embark on a journey that follows in the footsteps of Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze and Heldon. As the old guard slowly passes on and a new generation picks up the secrets of their craft, it's really cool to hear music like this done so well by a musician in the most unlikely of geographical locations. MIRANDA is back with his third album DOPPELGÄNGER following the "Lowride EP" which also emerged in the calendar year of 2022.

Progressive electronic is one of the most difficult genres to describe in words given the abstract ethereal and almost exclusively instrumental nature of this synthesizer dominated offshoot of the Krautrock universe of the late 1960s / early 1970s. Happy to know it's still going strong. Although we just lost Klaus Schulze, newbies like MIRANDA are more than happy to grab the baton and make a long fruitful career. While retro prog has been a thing for quite a while now, so is retro prog electronic and DOPPELGÄNGER proudly revisits the ethereal abstract electronic soundscapes of what made all those albums in the 70s so timeless.

What we have here is an album that is basically the JAVIER MIRANDA show as his programs all synths, plays all keyboards and who knows what else however we do find three guest musicians contributing piano, electric guitar and even a bamboo flute on "Deep Cosmology." I was impressed with MIRANDA's first two albums but he seems to have staying power as he fully comprehends how to construct alienating yet appealing electronic pieces of sound art. Most important of all his compositions have grooves where overt or under the surface. "Chromatic Rhythm" for example has a steady 4/4 bass beat which if not layered upon by trippy otherworldly sound effects could possibly be danceable! Just add enough alcohol and anything goes :)

This album showcases seven tracks at 42 1/2 minutes in length which is about the right album length for this kind of music for my liking. Too many artists release 70 minutes of prog electronic which almost always outlasts its welcome. These tracks are all diverse enough to keep the interest level up while not taxing your patience by the time the final 9 1/2 minute "Ephemeral Arkitecture" closes things up. In addition to the classic prog electronic references, MIRANDA incorporates modern electronic influences ranging from Autechre, Aphex Twin, Boards of Canada and many more. While those artists don't exist in the prog electronic realm, it's interesting to hear their influences incorporated into it as they are fairly unique and inventive in their own right.

For the most part this album is on the darker more ominous side with brooding drones, detached robotic beats, quirky keyboard riffs and oodles of sound bank effects. As the woofer album cover insinuates there are lots of deep house beats that are right out of the IDM playbook, some danceable but most not as the time signatures are mostly on the jittery side of things. Overall a nice balance of boom boom and drifting dreamy atmospheres thrown onto the same playground and in the act of cooperation completion. Actually there is a bit of spoken word text in the Finnish language on "Kakshiko" which strangely appears as "Aquarius" in databases but on the Bandcamp page bears the full title "Kakshiko (Doppelgänger)."

The coolest track is the final "Ephemeral Arkitecture" which is the only track to feature electric guitar but the guitar is virtually unrecognizable as such due to the fact it plays in a most unorthodox manner as a weird buzzing special effect than as a means for a melodic riff machine. This track perfectly sums up MIRANDA's excellent mixing abilities that incorporates a droning effect, a melodic synthesizer part and numerous freeform sound effects of which the guitar is just one part. Overall this is my favorite album by MIRANDA so far and it seems there is not stopping him now so i'm sure something cool will spring forth in 2023!

The Berlin School gets an upgrade.

An artist from Spain who is new to me, Javier Miranda's ingenious and cracked-glass 21st Century perspective and reinterpretation of old-school electronica sounds and styles is quite refreshing, if also a bit unsettling.

1. "Opening" (2:01) lots of brilliantly treated sounds give this opener a very dystopian, futuristic, Blade Runner 2049 feel. Even the old-time upright piano that breaks up the synthesizer party in the second minute feels as if it could be old-man Deckard playing an out-of-tune piano in his antiquated hotel. (4.5/5)

2. "The Days of Our Lives" (9:40) slow, simple and melodic, this song opens with some slowly developed layers of synths that cast their beautifully hypnotic spell on us--until the three minute mark, that is, when programmed techno drums with their bullet-ripping bass pedal burst onto the scene and begin to dominate in an almost humorous A-HA-like way. When they cut out at the end of the sixth minute, we are left with what sound like the shards of a broken song as piano, guitar, organ, and other instruments repeat their little riffs as if each in their own worlds--the timing of each track seeming to drift off into differing universes and yet, somehow, still feel cohesive and whole! Fascinating! "Drums" return, Mellotron-like choral bank enters beneath soloing upper-register synth. It's cheezy, like a lot of the 80s were, but somehow, at the same time, charming. (17.5/20)

3. "Swarm Days" (9:34) manipulated and pure piano sounds play a series of arpeggi in an eerie cross between Mike Odlfield "Tubular Bells" and other horror genre theme musics that use warped and contused childhood for their themes. Children's piano joins in during the second minute only exaggerating this effect--especially as the children seem to be drifting off into different directions. The rising tension begs the question: Will they collide and conflict or will these self-isolating behaviors continue? In the fifth minute a unified (MIDI-ed) middle-range keyboard and metallic percussive join the party, but their angular, idiosyncratic "song" seems to have a pacifying effect. In fact, the other "children" all stop (to listen?) while MIDI stumbles on. In the seventh minute, even MIDI is faded out--replaced by a bass-range synth and then, later, echoed in the background (as if from another room). Still eerie but beautiful. And cinematic. The slow-shifting two chord synth wash beneath all of this is actually quite comforting--like the calm and steady presence of older siblings or parents. (18.5/20) 4. "Interlude" (2:47) euphonium-like synth steadily pulsing away its melody line is soon joined by angular melody played by banged up/mentally unstable circus calliope. (4.25/5)

5. "Keyholder" (5:50) super-fast arpeggio sequence from some small chimes is joined by another early techno/70s drum sequence and then other synth washes and arpeggiating riffs. Sounds almost like something from an early TALKING HEADS studio session. IN the fourth minute the drums back away for a bit while some keyboard arpeggi float to the fore, but then they return in full with "heavily effected electric guitar"-like lead instrument soloing in the front and center with a few long-sustained notes. (8.5/10)

6. "State of Mind" (9:07) slowly patterned MIDI-Gamelan tubular bells are slowly joined by the rising of a series of four GENESIS-like Mellotron choral bank chords. Broken Mellotron calliope chords join in during the third minute. The "modernization" of effected Mellotron play seems such a twisted "tribute" to early KING CRIMSON and GENESIS and other bands whose music may have been dripping in 'tron. At 4:12 the 'trons desist and a new set of sequences establish themselves in a weave before electronic bass drum steps in with a Disco beat. The weave continues to add instruments, thickening the soundscape. When "snare"and "cymbals" join in, the beat becomes more akin to the straight-time beats on Alan Parsons' I Robot album. Some shifting in the eighth minute reveal a new sound that sounds very much like the early electronic music of JEAN-MICHEL JARRE. (17.5/20)

7. "Ending" (3:19) three heavily treated piano notes, each played over four equal measures, ad infinitum, in quarter notes in a Largo 4/4 time, over which more heavily-treated shrill piano notes play. I find myself reminded of Harold Budd and Brian Eno's "Chill Air" from Plateaux of Mirror as well as both "Home" and the final song from the second disc of David Sylvian's Gone to Earth, "Upon This Earth". Nice. (8.75/10)

Total Time 42:18

While there is a definite cleverness to the creativity of Javier's music--his treatment of old, traditional synthesizer sounds is definitely 21st Century (as is his unabashed exploration of interpretations of mental illness perspectives)--is cutting edge and ingenius. There is quite a little nod to Brian Eno (and Harold Budd's) going on here--especially to his Ambient and Music For Films albums. At the same time, I'm not sure if an album of interpretations of instability, nostalgia for adolescence, and childish perspectives on the world is enough to be called dazzling much less earth-shattering. I, for one, will await Javier's magnum opus.

B/four stars; an excellent addition to any prog lover's music collection--especially if you love Berlin School electronica and have been waiting to see where 21st Century artists can and will take it.

Only a year after finding his way on to the musical playground as a solo artist, the Galician musician JAVIER MIRANDA returns with his sophomore release STRANGE IMPERFECTION which finds him once again merging the world of Berlin School progressive electronic with myriad musical forms intertwine and hypnotize the listener with a set of seven tracks that capture the essence of a classic vinyl era album with a running time of just over 42 minutes.

Basically following in the footsteps of his debut album "Mirror Games," MIRANDA once again mesmerizes with his magical synthesizers that he brings to life in a somewhat familiar way as he mines the past classics for basic ideas but then adds the Spanish touch to things with a stronger devotion to rhythmic cadences and percussive accoutrements, a trait oft eschewed from the old school German maestros who instead unapologetically devoted their off world experience to layered synth runs exclusively.

STRANGE IMPERFECTION is neither STRANGE nor IMPERFECT at all really. Perhaps if this is your first introduction to the world of the world of ambient music or dark progressive electronica then sure this could be considered strange but for anyone who has taken in a fair amount of Tangerine Dream, Klaus Schulze, Kraftwerk or Jean Michel Jarre then this will be quite a comforting album as its not as extreme as any of those artists at their most creative. In fact this is more or less a very calm, relaxing and pacifying album compared to its predecessor.

Out of the seven tracks on board, three sprawl past the nine minute mark thus leaving MIRANDA plenty of breathing room to craft post-rock styled cyclical loops augmented by subtle changes in pitch, ambience and atmosphere. Shorter tracks like "Interlude" provide a slightly more agitating effect with heavier emphasis on the bass grooves while seemingly incongruent higher pitched synth loops dance in defiance. Tracks like this are the most authentically Berlin School with similar tones, timbres and programming techniques.

"Keyholder" provides a drumbeat so prominent that it takes things into progressive rock territory however don't expect guitars or bass. It's a simple drumbeat accompanied by a haunting ambience before being joined by a hyperactive key stab session. Sounds a bit motorik in fact like classic Neu! "State Of Mind" sort of reflects the entire album at hand that being catching some sort of cosmic wave and rolling with it. The track also delivers a series of Berlin School keyboard workouts only augmented with a percussive backdrop as well as a tapestry of contrapuntal synthesized sounds. "Ending" provides the perfect melancholic finale with a circuitous piano roll in a dueling fashion.

JAVIER MIRANDA certainly captures the essence of classic progressive electronic music of yore all the while adding just enough melodic touches to ensure an instant connectability and situates the elements in such a way that it sounds innovative and fresh. Progressive electronic is a difficult style of music to review actually. It's a cerebral type of collection of sounds that either resonates or doesn't. For this particular release it certainly does as did his excellent debut. It has become clear from this sophomore album that MIRANDA is by no means a one trick pony. His breadth of synthesized textures is wide and he knows how to paint impressionist artworks of sound. Very cool.

JAVIER MIRANDA originates from the Galician city of Lugo, Spain and has been quite active in various bands including Art of Lament, Bristol, Dead Flag, Digital Quail, Experipecies, Kalte Sonne, Pressences and TFL but in 2020 finally ventured out as a solo artist with his first album MIRROR GAMES although MIRANDA spent the 2010s releasing solo material on a series of splits with Yellow Flesh.

Having quite a diverse musical palette, MIRROR GAMES delivers an interesting mix of various styles of progressive rock and Berlin School progressive electronic. The opening 'Travels Pt 1' for example takes full flight into 70s progressive electronic bringing the classics from Klaus Schulze and Tangerine Dream to mind but the ten minute track doesn't stay content with just one style and drifts off into a beautiful melodic piano run that find the ambience wrapping textural counterpoints around.

The second track 'Hyperdrive' also takes on a progressive electronic stance but shifts into psychedelic space rock mode with dirty guitar riffs that are accompanied by exhilarating swarms of synthesizers that evoke a Floydian 'Saucerful of Secrets' modality with oscillating pulses of keyboard stabs. 'Wasteland,' the shortest track on the album jumps back into unadulterated Berlin School progressive electronic with spaced out keyboards finding chirping birds slowly fading out and ushering in tumultuous noise that insinuates ensuing chaos but barely takes over the sonic lead before the entire track fades to black.

The title track brings playful although creepy piano tinkles before an unexpected French horn type of sound enters. The piano tinkle loop continues while various instruments join in to craft a veritable avant-prog fueled high octane rock section second half of the track with a steady drumbeat and angelic choir type effects. The tinkling piano remains the common denominator. The closing 'Travels Pt 2' finishes the album with another 10 minute track returning to space rock and Berlin School mode but then breaks into angular avant-prog guitar workouts and chamber rock taking the album on yet another unexpected journey.

This is quite the brilliant debut from JAVIER MIRANDA who excitingly displays a keen understanding of various strains of progressive music all mixed up beautifully in one playing session. The tightrope walk between playful melodic and anarchic avant-garde is perfectly constructed and this is simply a gorgeous album that is entertaining from beginning to end. Imagine Tangerine Dream with Henry Cow and Univers Zero together but neither dominating for too long. That's sort of what you get here and it's all paced perfectly. Excellent debut and i can't wait to hear what comes next.