We started with Jack White’s lyric heavy album, we then moved to the slightly lyrical EDM of Mat Zo, now finally this week, we make the move to an entirely lyric-less album:
Lost in Space – Pyramid
Released in 2011 as the French producer’s debut album, Lost in Space is an interesting to say the least. From the initial listen through, one can’t help but feel that this album would be at home as the sound track to a sci-fi game straight out of the eighties. Each song blends well with their electronic beats, however, still remain distinct enough to not feel repetitive. So let’s jump into a couple of the stand out songs from the record:
Space Odyssey
A beautiful way to start the album, “Space Odyssey” has a melodic, almost hypnotising sound. The wavering synths which build give the song an “other-worldly” vibe, definitely emanating the title of the album. Moreover, as the song progresses, it develops more and more layers. Never does it feel cluttered because of this though, and it’s interesting to try and listen closer and pick out all of the individual sounds.
Digital Rain
As the second longest track on the album, “Digitial Rain” definitely deserves the run time. The song progresses through a number of different styles, embedding an evolutionary feel to it. After the initial intro, piano chords continue to play subtly through the song, giving this electronic track a warmer feel to it. Also, cow bell.
The Race
After a number of fairly slow songs at the onset of the album, “The Race” steps the tempo up a bit. With a strong driving beat with numerous over laid sounds, this is another very textured song.
Stars Theme
The final song on the album and definitely a strong finish. “Stars Theme” feels like it could have come directly from the original Tron film, ironic as fellow French producers Daft Punk created the score for the modern sequel to the 1982 cult classic. The harsh buzz of the square wave at the beginning and the later strings playing throughout seal the deal. You can almost imagine the lead character driving into a pixel sunset before the credits start to roll.
As you can probably gauge from my descriptions, many of the tracks from Lost in Space share the similarity of heavy synth with some underlying instruments. Additionally, most of the songs follow a similar flow: singular instrument or sound in the intro, build up throughout, cut back to a single instrument about halfway through the song, and then pick up again for a big finish. This isn’t necessarily bad, however it does make the sound slightly predictable and less impressionable.
Overall, a well fleshed out album with textured sounds. Better yet, Pyramid put the whole album out to be downloaded for free from Bandcamp, so no harm in trying it out.
4/5
mechanicalpen 