“Polaris offers a disconcerting musical diversity where the abstract style flirts blithely with a more melodious vision”
1 Lucid Dream 7:10 2 Permutations-Part I 5:46 3 Permutations-Part II 4:03 4 975-2 6:17 5 Flashback 7:37 6 Smile! 4:27 7 Out Of Alignment 6:02 8 Voltage Controlled Inspirations 5:35 9 Les Structures Logiques (Polaris's Version) 5:52 10 Nostalgy 6:49 Polaris Music
(DDL 59:18) (VF)
(New Berlin School, Experimental)
Polaris is the musical project of the Polish musician Jakub Kmieć. Initially inspired by the retro Berlin School, Polaris has reoriented its musical approach by taking inspiration from Spyra and more contemporary music. BACKGROUND STORIES, is his third opus and offers a disconcerting musical diversity where the abstract style flirts blithely with a more melodious vision.
Imprecise sound waves coil up in heavy reverberant loops that come and go. Lucid Dream introduces us dare-dare in the complex musical universe of Polaris. Tribal-style percussions lead to a jerky movement of bass sequences that squirms sensually on a funky bass line in a cosmic universe riddled with composite sound effects and heavy, enveloping synth pads. BACKGROUND STORIES is full of its threatening waves whose heavy reverberations turn into a musical fauna rich in originality. This is how Permutations opens. The pulsations frame a languorous rhythm encircled by an enveloping synth that escapes long solos spinning idly. The tempo becomes more sensual with a good hesitant piano that hangs its notes in a jazz-lounge atmosphere supported by suggestive percussions. Crystal-clear arpeggios give a new sound direction, initiating the second part of Permutation which progresses with a more solid rhythm and a more dynamic piano. The pace becomes spasmodic with electronic percussions that roll in the hazes of a synth and its airs slowly waving, swelling the life of Permutation. The more we go and the more we move in a strange sound world. Like with 975-2 which is a long, sensual, wandering tirade among a plethora of sound effects all as strange as they are unaccustomed to us. The bass is heavy and fits to this universe with a thousand sound prisms. After a cosmic and floating intro, Flashback explodes on good interlocking sequencer movements. The keyboard escapes its echoing chords, creating a multi-dimensional melody that takes various forms listen after listening. A very good time on this album.
Smile is abstract with its metal gases that adorn a musical world without concrete rhythms where are wandering pieces of melodies lost and fragmented in a very corrosive musical approach. With the heterogeneous tones of percussion rolling on a sequencer and its glass tones struck on an anvil, Out of Alignment says what it means! Beautiful floating and tight layers envelop this structure to the imprecise rhythm that clings onto a wavy bass, redefining its tempo with a techno funky approach on honeyed synth with lamentations of electric guitar. Voltage Controlled Inspirations soaks in an electronic-cosmic atmosphere of a plaintive synth with melodious whistling. The tunes float on a discreetly sensual bass that coos in a pretty tight ambience. This ambient rhythmic approach continues on Logical Structures. Although less sensual and more animated, the tempo is in the nebulous spheres of a DJ with a cosmo-experimental approach using a synth with imperfect minimalism chords that excite the ear. Nostalgy closed this last offering of Polaris as Lucid Dream had begun. With a nice melody dancing on heavy reverberations that are supported by a beautiful game of percussion less tribal but equally effective.
BACKGROUND STORIES is a whole find of Ricochet Dream. A more contemporary album than electronic Berlin School style. Progressive techno in a very diverse sound that surprises as much by its originality than its complexity, while maintaining a melodious approach. A mix of Spyra with the passion of Synth.NL. To discover for those whose ears love sound exploration ... although the melodious aspect greatly facilitates the taming.
Sylvain Lupari (April 4th, 2009) *****
Available at Polaris Bandcamp