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Sun Electric

Lost & Sound (1998-2000)

(Shitkatapult; US: 23 Oct 2007; UK: Unavailable)

German band Sun Electric was supposed to release this album around the turn of the millennium. However, as is the case with the music industry, the group had to roll with the executive punches and sit on it. Finally, it’s out, and while electronica might be an acquired taste for some, the band offers up plenty of appetizing genres on “Toninas”, a mix of jazz, dub, lounge and funk with a hint of electronic-meets-industrial overtones sprinkled on top. It’s a precursor to the ambient nature of the songs, including the minimal, almost organic approach to “Lomat”. Yet Sun Electric can rave it up with the best of them, such as during “Sissy” which has that big beat vibe but never quite bursts through the surface. Loops are the order of the day on a few tracks, especially the jerky, jazzy “Ohaya” with some harp accents added. Lush and rich describes “Echolon”, a song that peters out gracefully as it saunters on. And how can you go wrong with a quasi hip-hop-meets-electronica ditty dubbed “Umpa Lumpa”?

Rating:

Originally from Cape Breton, MacNeil is currently writing for the Toronto Sun as well as other publications, including All Music Guide, Billboard.com, NME.com, Country Standard Time, Skope Magazine, Chart Magazine, Glide, Ft. Myers Magazine and Celtic Heritage. A graduate of the University of King's College, MacNeil currently resides in Toronto. He has interviewed hundreds of acts ranging from Metallica and AC/DC to Daniel Lanois and Smokey Robinson. MacNeil (modestly referred to as King J to friends), a diehard Philadelphia Flyers fan, has seen the Rolling Stones in a club setting, thereby knowing he will rest in peace at some point down the road. Oh, and he writes for PopMatters.com.


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