French art-house is a hard genre to listen to alone, I’ll be the first to admit. Repetitive beats that build energy in a club sound boring when listening solo. In addition, bass kicks normally felt in a sweaty chest cavity just don’t sound the same when put on a bedroom stereo. However, French duo Masomenos’ latest album Technocolor manages to settle into grooves and keep said grooves interesting enough for a stay-at-home audience. It lives up to its name in the sense that it is tonally colorful, and lends itself to the numerous visuals encountered while exploring the group’s online presence. Also, it’s a good record to do work to, providing just enough stimulation to enhance focus while remaining pleasantly mellow.
The deep, swirling minor chords that open Technocolor set a remarkable stage for this album. It is certainly remarkable that Masomenos opens an album of head-bobbing, trundling tunes with slowly droning synths. However, the foggy sonic textures and hauntingly silly narrations (provided by none other than German electro-reggae dude Aquarius Heaven) soon give way to a series of tunes that lend themselves to intelligent, contemplative butt-shaking.
In terms of overall energy, it is unremarkable in that there are no gripping, roaring crescendos present in the music. The creators of this album have settled instead for a cool and consistent ebb and flow. This is not a bad thing; the architecture of the album is admittedly outstanding, with new intricacies revealed in every listen. For example, “L’andalouse,” the fifth cut, opens with remnants of the previous track’s drums and adds in new samples and subtle textures, later transitioning to a meaty four-on-the-floor pitchshifted drumbeat that combats monotony by incredibly subtle shifts in instrumentation, signal processing, and drum programming. This careful attention to detail cannot be appreciated enough; in all seriousness, the painstaking constructions featured make the record incredibly listenable. The final cut on the album, the aptly titled “Siddhartha,” slowly fades and fades until nothing remains but a minimalistic drumbeat and a sample of a male voice saying “There is no they; it is all one.” Spooky.
Technocolor is a good chillout record. If you’re looking for something to take the edge off, this is it. It can be long and drawn-out listen that’s somewhat difficult to digest in one sitting, but with hidden rewards that make it worth it.
Track List:
1. Shaman Intro
2. Savanne Dub
3. La Dit Sqwaw
4. Sam Dit Lilly's Dub
5. L'andalouse
6. Sunsun
7. Amarillo y Verde / Otra
8. Hope
9. Shaman Academix
10. Bobby the Pink
11. Sidartha
