Album Review

Octave Minds – Octave Minds

• 14th Sep 2014

It’s not often you get a stand out Album of The Year contender as early on as this in proceedings, but we’ve got to hold our hands up and say Octave Minds might just be the most beautiful, ambitious, rewarding listen of 2014.

The album is a new collaboration between piano maestro and all-round lovely egg Chilly Gonzales and producer Boys Noize (aka Alexander Ridha) who was responsible for the production on Gonzales’ Ivory Tower record, but this full body of work shows a much grander and more experimental side to both artists.

The bizarre future-dancehall of ‘Royalty’ is a perfect example of what can happen when two musicians at the top of their game create something entirely new, thankfully a joyfully recurring theme throughout this album. This is not a rehash. This is not a factory-made procession of dance hits. It’s a gargantuan, orchestrated project from start to finish that’s been conceived in the mind of a classical genius – Octave Minds is a more culturally relevant, moving and vital symphony than you’re ever likely to hear from many lauded contemporary classical composers.

Ridha’s production is masterful and lends a Jean-Michel Jarre gravitas to the whole project that echoes the legendary Vangelis compositions of the Blade Runner soundtrack, a twisted beauty that embodies an epic world view and ties together Gonzales’ weaving piano magic with the technology-driven rhythms and soundscapes of contemporary electronica.

In all honesty, we could ramble on for hours about how essential this record is – just pick it up and be prepared to transcend the boundaries of popular music into a space full of more promise and intellectually stimulating melody, rhythm and texture than you can shake a really big stick at.

The maestro returns, and this time he’s got synthesizers.

– Jamie Otsa

Venue: Octave Minds
Support Band: Boysnoize Records