This is the third release this week with the name Steve Davis attached. This time, it’s the project Magical, of which “The Gift of Love” is the second release. The first one, “The Gift of Today,” was reviewed in Vital Weekly 1466 sometime in December last year. Since then, I’ve learned this is another project of Steve, but I still need to understand the conceptual approach behind it. Why? Because it is weird as hell.
This one is 28 minutes and counting, 14 tracks between 54 seconds and a whopping 3 minutes and 17 seconds. All tracks have weird beat patterns at high speeds, generating a beat-based sound wave. And all the tracks have additional layers of field recordings, found footage, vocals/voices or noise(s). And because the tracks are so short, everything is constantly moving. “Happily Shrinking World”, for example, has less of a beat pattern forming a sound, but the technique used is the same. “In Heaven All Along” has the most grind feel because of the added bass and rock-based patterns. “Mange” is an example of a track where the structure of a beat pattern becomes soundwaves on its own is best audible. And the voice with it makes it simply creepy. The best example, however, of this method is the closing track “Perpetual”.
Magical is, as said in the first review, also not the easiest to listen to, but it has a very original approach to sonic art. It’s weird, and weird is good.
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