Album Review

Thavius Beck – The Most Beautiful Ugly

• 8th Nov 2012

Thavius Beck has not made an album.

While it may certainly appear to all intents and purposes that he has, this may purely be because habit formed over the past few decades of popular music has dictated that a collected group of songs will be released as an album.

But what if the tracks being collected are not exactly songs, in the same way that The Most Beautiful Ugly is not exactly an album?

It would be a truer reflection of the art to refer to this ‘album’ as a patchwork of sound collages, with 15 tracks sprawling across the slight 40 minute running time, and with many of these clocking in sub-3 minutes, shorter than what is considered standard song length, it is clear that Thavius Beck has no real regard for what should be expected.

Having picked up samplers and sequencers at the tender age of 12, it really is no wonder that Beck is a master at moulding sounds into shapes that they have no real right to be, whilst also delivering lavishly constructed soundscapes that are expansive in their scope.

Refusing to conform to hip-hop’s need for ‘beats’, we are instead presented with a masterclass of just how much can be achieved with innovative technology at your fingertips, as such it should come as no surprise to know that Beck is a certified Ableton tutor as well as being hands on in the development and demonstration of numourous forward thinking music programs and products.

And by the time a vast wealth of disparate genres, effects and new technologies have been put through their paces by a man with no respect for boundaries, we are graced with an artistic endeavour that is straddling its own existence, acting as a demo of ‘look what is possible when you put your mind to it’ as well as being an equal measure of ‘avent-garde masterpiece’

Venue: The Most Beautiful Ugly
Support Band: Plug Research