Elliot Moss: Highspeeds (Warners)

 |   |  <1 min read

Elliot Moss: Faraday Cage
Elliot Moss: Highspeeds (Warners)

After being tipped by Spin magazine as one of the artists to watch in 2015, this New York multi-instrumentalist, producer and video artist sees his debut album from last year re-presented (with two extra tracks).

The brooding, moody slow-groove electro-pop soundbeds topped by his smooth, soulful and slightly folk-jazz influenced vocals are certainly appealing on the standout Slip, the lovely minimalist Pattern Repeating and the quirky, dreamscape musings on, seemingly, what lives inside the VCR Machine.

But – and this is a problem when you do almost everything yourself and don't have an outside editor – a distracting two minute sound-piece interrupts the early flow, and after the 53 minutes too much has broadcast on the same low, almost sleepwalking pace.

Moss – who sometimes brings to mind a semi-comatose Jeff Buckley – often sounds in need of a caffeine double-shot.

But the upbeat electro-stutter of I Can't Swim, the swooning bass and synth-strings of Plastic II and aggressive guitars on Faraday Cage elevate this above the sometimes average trip-hop and the effect of prescription tranquilisers.

More interesting on repeat plays, but you have to make a serious effort to get out of the beanbag to do that.

Share It

Your Comments

post a comment

More from this section   Music at Elsewhere articles index

Little Feat: 40 Feat, The Hot Tomato Anthology 1971-2011 (Proper/Southbound)

Little Feat: 40 Feat, The Hot Tomato Anthology 1971-2011 (Proper/Southbound)

As with Amazing Rhythm Aces, Little Feat seem a band loyally followed by many . . . but largely overlooked by contemporary critics or those who never fell for their particularly imaginative gumbo... > Read more

Charlotte Yates: Then the Stars Start Singing (charlotteyates.com)

Charlotte Yates: Then the Stars Start Singing (charlotteyates.com)

Many musicians must be plagued with self-doubt when putting their music into the world, but spare a sympathetic thought for Charlotte Yates because for many years she was offering songwriting... > Read more

Elsewhere at Elsewhere

RICHARD NUNNS AND TAONGA PUORO (2019): Sounds from darkness into the light

RICHARD NUNNS AND TAONGA PUORO (2019): Sounds from darkness into the light

On Waiheke, one of the islands in the Waitemata Harbour of Auckland, there is a remarkable private museum of musical instruments. It is exceptional in one key detail. As many would know,... > Read more

John Rae: Lighthouse (Thick Records)

John Rae: Lighthouse (Thick Records)

Recorded in Rotorua and inspired by the traditional music of Japan, this album lead by the highly qualified drummer John Rae manages to exist somewhere between world music-cum-jazz, meditative... > Read more