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review by Bill Binkelman I know next to nothing about keyboard player/guitarist Matera, except what I learned after listening to his second album, 2. What did I learn? This guy is talented - he can play dynamic accessible electronic music with the best in the business, and if there's any justice, this album is gonna be in a lot of people's CD players someday. Don't be fooled (as I was) by the apparent "blue sky and clouds" cover art of this album. Wrongo! Thirty seconds or so into the opening track, "uaso," you'll be set straight in a hurry. Thundering drums (programmed but damn, they sound like a real trap set and hand drums), soaring whistling keyboards, and dramatic piano all combine in a powerful song suffused with a sense of celebration and life! Next up is "what you deserve" which again brings drums to the forefront (a blend of organic and electronic in nature), along with darker shaded ebbing and flowing keyboards. This one has a quasi-prog feel to it when the trap set erupts in pounding kick-bass, cymbals, and tom toms, along with some stinging electric guitar work. "giving it all away" has more of a tribal sound to it, owing to the abundance of different sampled hand percussion, much of it ethnic, along with great pan pipes that carry the wistful and a touch sad melody. Through my many playings of 2, I was reminded of two artists whom I think have influenced Matera (or at least Matera's music is similar to theirs): Patrick O'Hearn and Peter Maunu. Both of these artists' strengths are (or were with regards to Munau) their abilities to craft accessible and melodic music that never becomes stale, ordinary or commercial, yet retains noticeable "song-like" structure, as opposed to being just ambient in nature. Matera has the same knack and it's in evidence throughout 2. This is not new age music by a long shot, but it's not ambient either and it's not really any brand of EM I know of. Rather than try to pigeon-hole it, I'll just state that Michael Matera's music kicks ass and takes names! Listen to the driving drums and whirly-gigging synths of "need" or the fiery "want what I get" featuring a blend of tribal rhythms, soaring synths, and thumping electric bass. You'll hear an artist who is obviously passionate about his music, which is plenty passionate to begin with! Some cuts are brimming with an almost organized chaos, as a wall of sound seems to burst from nowhere (such as on "broken outside" with its cascading guitar licks and chords and take-no-prisoners drumming). "let go" sidesteps into catchy electronica-like beats at the outset but morphs into something more along the lines of the more dynamic cuts from O'Hearn's Eldorado. Speaking of Patrick O'Hearn, "wet" the second to last track, and the closing number, "two," could both sit alongside other songs on Metaphor or Trust. However, that said, Matera's engineering skills are not as satisfying as O'Hearn's. I used an earlier comparison to Phil Spector's "wall of sound" approach on purpose. Matera would have been better served to separate the instruments more from each other more in the mix. Some of the inherent drama on the CD is overshadowed by a slight muddiness and indistinct sound as layer after layer of music is built up in some songs. On balance, though, this is a rock solid effort. O'Hearn fans should be the first to seek this one out, as should those who wish Munau had recorded more than just Warm Sound in a Grey Field. However, don't come to this party expecting much in the way of quiet music. As long as you're ready for a lot of unleashed dynamism, you'll have a helluva good time. |
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