stylistberlin Album Review: Steve Bug – Noir (Pokerflat)
Pic by Hannes Caspar
Label. Pokerflat
Artist. Steve Bug
Title. Noir
Format. Double-LP, CD, Digital Album
Cat.Number. PFRCD32D Digital album
Release Date. 1. October, 2012
Distribution. sen
Domain. www.pokerflat-recordings.com
“Noir“ is the fifth studio album of Pokerflat & Dessous Recordings head Steve Bug and comes with a album cover that plays with light and darkness, showing the contrast of black and white, emphasizing of course, the “noir“ side.
As announced earlier on stylistberlin, the release date was October 1st, 2012.
“My music expresses my moods, and these moods, of course, change,“ says Steve Bug. I wanted to check it out and here goes the review:
CD Tracklist
01. Tell Me Why (6:20)
02. Poison Of Choice (4:20)
03. Serve Your Mistress (6:12)
04. No Adjustments (feat. Foremost Poets) (6:57)
05. The Spiral Staircase (3:36)
06. Moments Of Ease (feat. Emilie Chick) (6:49)
07. Those Grooves (9:48)
08. Somewhere In The Night (5:28)
09. Farewell Friend (4:49)
10. The Seventh Victim (5:51)
Track Review
01. Tell Me Why (6:20)
The driving piece of music opening the album is quite dark, perfectly to begin a journey through deep sounds and thoughtful moments.
02. Poison Of Choice (4:20)
Slow beats, surprising guitar lines, easy melody. The least favourite track of the album, for me it is carrying too much weight and puts me into a heavy mood. Nevertheless, Hannes Bieger did a great job playing the guitar on this one, and I think it is the coincidental moments of a track that turn out to be a blessing – it was not planned to play the guitar by hand.
03. Serve Your Mistress (6:12)
Love the playful bells and the upbeat of this track in the beginning. This track is inviting to move your body along the beat. With deep chords underneath and the bass reminding us of darkness, it combines a lightfulness with subconscious danger and has something demanding.
04. No Adjustments (feat. Foremost Poets) (6:57)
The first real dance track on the album. This is a special piece, featuring a spoken word of Johnny Dangerous of the Foremost Poets. The synthesizers are going crazy on this one and are reminding me of “Brainstorming“ of Renaissance Man and a bit of Format:B tracks.
05. The Spiral Staircase (3:36)
The title comes from a classic of the film noir scene. Down-tempo, not that dark, actually very comfortable to listen to at home.
06. Moments Of Ease (feat. Emilie Chick) (6:49)
Emilie Chick from Portland, Oregon, is adding her jazzy voice on this one, turning the track to another genre. Might be the lightest track on the album, and for that, the title is perfect. Also, this track is perfect for afterhours and invites you to dance.
07. Those Grooves (9:48)
Another dance track on this album. It is hard to make a track that does invite to dance with repetitive chords, melodies and beats – but Steve Bug shows how it is done properly.
08. Somewhere In The Night (5:28)
Another title borrowed from a film noir. I like the mixture of darkness and lightness on this one as well. A perfect afterhour track for me, I really like this one.
09. Farewell Friend (4:49)
A track that creates a rather blurry image, reminding me of typical meditation-songs. The synthesizer does not make it any better.
10. The Seventh Victim (5:51)
The last title borrowed from a film noir. Love the piano, the jazzy feeling. This is my favourite track of the album.
Comment
the dark mood prevails throughout the whole album and over the beats, a ghostly sound is mixed
This album took three years to be made. Nevertheless, it is consistent – the dark mood prevails throughout the whole album and over the beats, a ghostly sound is mixed. It is made as an listening album, rather than a dance album. It was introduced as a possible soundtrack of a “science-fiction-film-noir“, for a Blade Runner of the 21st century. “No Adjustments“ and “Those Grooves“ could be played in an apocalyptic disco? What do you say?
Opinion
I am a bit confused of the concept of the album. This one is definitely just for listening and enjoying at home, but on the other hand, I find it a bit disturbing it turned out so dark. To listen to this after all the happy-house and fun-disco stuff, it definitely is a contrast to that and gets you back to the ground.
Deep, dark, but also very sexy, “Noir“ takes you onto a journey where you can ponder about the twist and turns of your mind and makes you embrace the depths of life.
Deep, dark, but also very sexy, “Noir“ takes you onto a journey where you can ponder about the twist and turns of your mind and makes you embrace the depths of life.
The album came out at the right moment: people tend to listen to more serious stuff in the cold wintertime, and Steve Bug’s album invites to be absorbed in the cold weather, deep and thoughtful time, to enjoy the darkness that slowly surrounds us at te end of the year.
For thinkers like me, “Noir“ is good to spend the winter with.
