Ever a fan of the U.S military and the selfless good it does in various (particularly Middle Eastern) hotspots around the world Dave Thrussell (Snog) cheerfully accepted a commission from Darpa (The Defense Advanced Research Projects) to provide a soundtrack for those hard working souls in the Pentagon. You see they don’t have the time to track down the cool new music, to sort the gold from the chaff, they’re too busy making new weapons to maintain peace in our time.
The result of countless hours of research and regular liaison with the military, Full Spectrum Dominance, a concept album of sorts sees his electronic project Black Lung move away from the dark brooding beats of its predecessors and get almost righteous, triumphant and in your face (like any patriotic American worth his/her salt should). It’s a blistering set, everything sounds huge, but stylistically he’s all over the shop, one moment he sounds like something straight out of Tomita, the next he’s manipulating avant electronic soundscapes, the next it’s crunchy beats and searing synths. With notes for each track, the album is aligned to the U.S military’s desire for Full Spectrum Dominance through mass media manipulation and military might, and it’s refreshing to hear how successful he can be when not browbeating us with his fashionable leftist agenda. Whilst it’s possible that this very album might be part of some larger Psy-Ops agenda, with subliminal messages lurking beneath it’s sweeping textures and electronic crackles, it is an aggressive and upbeat collection of tunes. In short it’s a selection of tunes for winners, and filled with innovative and exciting electronic techniques it can’t help but motivate those hardworking innovators in the US Pentagon to come up with better, smarter and more left field ideas for forcing the rest of the world to live in peace. And though as we move through each of the 10 pieces the inevitable conclusion appears to be Armageddon, I’m sure that some of those innovators in in Darpa will think of some way to take care of those who deserve to be saved. And no doubt they’ll do it whilst listening to these tunes.
Bob Baker Fish
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