Alain Leonard + Alex Wank’s LAWA are back with the promised sister release to ‘Manipulation’. Instrumental sound exploration through a variety of genres is the method here and like its companion piece the ‘mega synthesists’ at the helm of the controls keep things moving in a fluid fashion as they progress through a variety of moods and motions. If you opt for the vinyl release you get two 20 minute sides where the tracks all play continuously without gap, forming 2 long pieces to indulge yourself in. Opt for the CD version and you also get ‘Manipulation’ but in a complete different order, mix and length to the previous digital version.
Track titles are intriguing and we start with skewed electronica and brooding bass beats over ‘Plugout’ which sounds like dark dance club early morning listening sounds for those who have been up all night and are in a discombobulated state of mind before austere and Teutonic sounds take over and throb away on ‘Blooo.’ Add a splash of creepy organ and this has a filmic vibe akin to a wax faced mad phantom playing in a deserted funfair where fun is the last thing on the minds of those trapped within. The main tone here is near martial and a feel of palpable tension via soft backing voice finds things spreading into ‘Complot.’ The rhythm allows you to twitch nervously along to it all and the various sounds warp in and out adding spooky atmosphere to the slow almost industrial drum beat of ‘Guns.’ Although there’s plenty to take in it all flows together perfectly. Futuristic glitches form over ‘RND’ and we are in a strange post-apocalyptic synthwave place, turning corners careful of traps and laser beams before encountering the jungle-drum beat and dark trance of ‘Replug.’ By now you should find yourself completely immersed and if listening to this on headphones will get the full effect of the wonderful shapes and sounds contained within. With keyboard stroking sinuously over ‘Devil Sweet’ and a backing of somewhat jazzy drum hits the final segment of the side ‘Soft Girl’ is the strange sound of what could well be percussive blasts landing far away before a brief dreamy outro sets you up for the flip-side.
I am not going to dissect the b) side in a similar fashion. You should have the idea what to expect as we pulsate into the quirky ‘Vault.’ The trip is there for you to follow and interpret as you wish. There are probably no right or wrong answers for what is going on. This is mood music that works equally well in the background as a soundtrack to other things or loudly shutting out everything else and giving it your sole attention. The composers are fertile minds and having already in the case of Alex moved on from the much revered death metal days of Pungent Stench into furthering his love of music from Italian Giallo and grizzly cannibal themes has taken his label Cineploit and music into strange but very welcome new dimensions. The curious can undertake further exploration at the following links.
(8/10 Pete Woods)
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