Keser
Roboghost (Alex Tronic)
What is it about the Alex Tronic label that makes it love cinematic music so much? Roboghost, the second full-length offering from electronic dust devils Keser, is a prime example of this indulgence in full, strong motion. Wide, mournful guitar passages sweep out from the speakers and seep through your gut. Haunting one and two-note keyboard riffs hammer the heartstrings.
At times, this can make them sound like Death In Vegas on mogadon (think of ‘Dirge’ stretched out to album length and you’re pretty much on the money), at others the twin spirits of Ennio Morricone and Lalo Schifrin are called to mind. All are marshalled together into one masterfully dark sonic odyssey with venom, charge and sweep all in equal measure.
This makes it like some sick, skewed sci-fi western (and yes, Blade Runner is mentioned in the press release) where the good guys aren’t entirely good and the bad guys aren’t entirely bad. All have feelings and so this fight, you sense, could go either way. The interest here lies not in seeing who’s going to win but rather, in how they’re going to win the fight and why they’re going to win it.
It almost seems unfair to pick out any highlights from an album that works so well as one whole piece, but the winners (just by a thread) are ‘Acts Of Dog’ and ‘Sesevenen’. Each sums up the different sides and moods of the album brilliantly by being immediately ear-catching and also deep enough to draw you in and make you want to investigate further.
All the talent and skill on display here is fine on its own terms, but what really takes Roboghost to another level is the razor-sharp production skill of Mr. Alex Tronic himself, Paul Croan. Croan brings light and laser-like focus to every sound on display here, which means that this is both a progression and confirmation of this band’s extraordinary talent.
Jonathan Muirhead
