After the two most recent Jesu works had returned to the heavy guitar sound the project began with, Justin Broadrick saw fit to separate that project into two distinct entities: Jesu for heavy guitar music, and Pale Sketcher (named for the Pale Sketches compilation) for the more ambient and electronic pop sounds. Considering that the two most electronic Jesu releases are among my favorites from that band (the split with Envy and Why Are We Not Perfect), I had high hopes for this project. After hearing it, I think there's a lot of potential with Pale Sketcher, though I don't know if this album demonstrates that inherently.
Being that it is essentially a Jesu compilation remixed, I think it's a hard release to try and gauge how this project will work out.Those aforementioned splits Broadrick did as Jesu were mostly electronic, but when the more traditional Jesu sound appeared, the juxtaposition is what I loved.On both songs from the Envy split, the heavy riffs came in at just the right time, mixing the guitar sound of Jesu with the electronic, almost pop structure that dominated the songs.I worry that this will end up stripping TOO much of the rock sound away from Broadrick's work.
Three of the songs were available last year in the Japanese 2CD reissue of the original Pale Sketches, "Don't Dream it (Mirage Mix)," "The Playgrounds are Empty (Slumber Mix)," and "Supple Hope (2009 Mix).""Don't Dream It" is improved, in my opinion, by the removal of the Rocky Horror samples and a greater emphasis on the grimy bass line and beats."The Playgrounds are Empty" strips most of the original track down, leaving only a rudimentary rhythm and hazy, sparse movements of synth, creating a warm, gauzy, drifting sound that is absolutely beautiful."Supple Hope" is also a more skeletal track, but leaves Broadrick's vocals in the open, rather than heavily processed in the original version.
"Can I Go Now (Gone Version)" follows a similar approach as "Playgrounds," stripping much of the track bare, including most of the vocals, to the point where it bears little resemblance to the original other than one melodic synth line.Considering this was one of my favorites on the original release, I feel a bit let down by this funereal take on what was more of an uptempo synth pop piece."Plans That Fade (Faded Dub)" goes the literal "dub" route, with a reggae inspired rhythm and vocals pushed into plate reverb hell, plus lots of effects and experimentations all around.
I think that, for the most part, the "vocal" tracks are the ones I gravitated towards on the original Pale Sketches album, and thus I've grown very familiar and fond of them in the three years since that album came out.Hearing them redone just doesn't feel quite right, since I just constantly compare them to what I'm used to.With the exception of "Can I Go Now," they're all strong on their own and will perhaps grow on me more over time, but at least at this stage feel like they lack the identity the original versions developed.
The instrumental tracks fare better in my opinion, mostly because I haven't spent as much time with the originals to be prejudiced against the remixes."Wash it All Away (Cleansed Dub)" keeps the soft synths from the original, but retains a rather mellow feeling throughout, dialing the beats back in intensity and turning the distortion down some as well, giving a much more chilled feel than the previous version.The emphasis on breakbeats that fill "Tiny Universes (Interstellar)," along with the reverb swells actually reminds me a lot of Re-Entry/Babylon Seeker-era Techno Animal, when the focus was on the beats and atmospheres rather than distortion and grime.
I do worry a bit that Broadrick will focus TOO much on the electronic elements of his previous works with Pale Sketcher, possibly leaving the vocals and guitar completely out of the mix. Most, if not all the guitar parts have been removed or processed far beyond identification, and most of the vocal appearances are soaked in effects.Guitar and vocals are what drew the line between Jesu and Godflesh for me, and many others as well, and I think most consider those defining marks of Broadrick’s sound.With the sole focus on synths and samples, Pale Sketcher might not develop the same iconic status that his other projects have.However, considering these are "demixes" of other tracks, perhaps it is the symbolic "tear it down to rebuild" gesture that Pale Sketcher is beginning with.I just hope any future releases lean more towards Why Are We Not Perfect or the two tracks from the Envy split, because if so, Pale Sketcher may end up rivaling Jesu in my opinion.
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