STRANGE IMPERFECTION

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.