Phonem is Elliot Perkins, a man with a fine taste for melody at thesame time that he has an intense love for loud electronic noise. He isalso a man with a political cause to inform you about on this, hisfourth release overall and his third for Morr Music. "Ilisu" is themoniker of the release, so named after the dam the Turkish govermentplans to build upstream of the Syrian and Iraqi borders? And the dam'smission? Publically to provide power for a notoriously failing Turkishpower infrastructure. Privately, it will force the evacuation of some78,000 Kurds from the 313 square kilometers that will serve as thedam's reservoir - a relocation that continues the Turkish persecutionof the Kurds. Obviously, this will notbe a cheery release by any means. Phonem is angry in this music,releasing frustrations and educating through the song titles: 'Thirst','Displacement', 'Water Rights', and 'War By Any Means' to name a few.It really is a pwerful release, and pure punishment on your earsthrough headphones. But underlying all of that lashing out is a purelove of hopeful melody, as small, quiet bursts of keyboards and soundsmake their way to the surface. You can actually hear in the music -especially on 'Thirst' - the pain and other effects this dam projectwill have on the people of the Tigris River valley, effects compoundedby the fact that this dam will not help solve the power problems inTurkey. The only complaint I have is that the drum sounds are almostall the same on every track, which comes across as a limit in equipmentas well as creativity. But it is a strong release, probably thestrongest Phonem music yet. Check out the sound samples to be sure, asI haven't been able to put this one down yet.
samples:
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