This album aims to recapture a childlike innocence and wonder by combining cartoon sounds with more exciting and grown up arrangements. The result is an enjoyable album that is like bubble gum for the ears, fun at first but it loses its flavor after a short time.
Ache
Jab Mica Och El have captured the playful feelings of childhood well. It’s hard not to bounce on the spot when listening to songs like “Biohjelm Light Speed.” The rhythms aren’t complex but the layering of sounds is, this gives a nice effect of being able to follow the rhythms perfectly easily but there’s enough detail to the pieces to prevent them getting too boring too quickly. There are lots of instruments being used and most of them get treated and chopped up (well the audio gets chopped up, not the instruments) by the duo which gives a lot of fun sounds. “Haircut from the Above” is a good example of this, there are all sorts of brass instruments, guitars and percussion being used as well as many mystery sounds that could be anything from toys to the same instruments put through a load of effects.
This is not music that I would sit down and listen to on headphones in order to ruminate on its finer points. It’s just a welcome bit of fun, fun being a word foreign to most serious musicians. As ABC Hej I’m Cola is only half an hour long, I found it is the perfect length to put on while doing something else, especially something boring (as it isn’t very intrusive so it is easy to concentrate on something else) or while cooking (although I did make a bit of a mess trying to stir fry in time to the music).
However, it’s easy to overdose on the music here. While, as mentioned above, there are a lot of interesting sounds used on the album, the simple song structures means that the pieces can sound a bit stale after a few listens. Taking a break for a few days allowed me to go back and enjoy it but I wonder what sort of lifespan this album will have. For the meantime I will enjoy it and even if I grow tired of it at least I will have gotten some value from ABC Hej I’m Cola.
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