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I have known Wade Anderson, aka Prospero, for years now and seem to bump into
the man everywhere. I’ve seen him freak out on a dance floor to Covenant’s “Call
the Ship’s to Port” and I also know that he loves noise and tribal rhythms. I’ve
seen him dancing to the hardest EBM tracks at Savage Garden as well as take in
one of Displacer’s lovely IDM performances in Montreal. If there is someone who
enjoys the variety the scene offers, it’s Wade.
That is what’s so great about his new album, Folie à Deux; Wade’s influences are
everywhere and the name of the game is variety. I hear the hammering EBM beat on
“The World That I See,” and I remember Wade on the dancefloor, at Savage Garden,
jumping around to Grendel. I hear his smashing cover of Malhavoc’s classic track
“Discipline” complete with vocals by Jennifer Parkin of Ayria and think could
anything possibly be more Toronto? Malhavoc, Ayria, Prospero… makes an ex-pat
Torontonian teary eyed!
The album opens with “The Elements” suite, four tracks of tribal, rhythmic,
experimental music, and that, too, is 100% Wade. It’s also 100% great music, a
perfect opening to an album from one of Toronto’s great musicians. Following
this is “The Madness,” the second half of the album and a change in musical
direction that shows the dance-floor side of Prospero. There’s the techno glitch
of “Techno Zombies” and the fire-breathing collaboration with Battery Cage and
Terrorfakt on “Let the Planet Burn” that will have you hitting repeat on your
iPod. The album closes with another Toronto act: a collaboration with It-Clings
that leaves you raging against political brutality.
There is something special about releasing an album by someone you’ve known for
so long. It’s not the personal touch, though that sure is great. It’s not even
the ability to talk frankly together, or have a beer together, or enjoy each
other’s conversation from time to time. When you know someone, their art
changes, and you gain something from the experience that would otherwise have
been lost. There’s something awesome about that. Released on Artoffact Records
and available June 24th, 2008.
1. Turbulent
(Air)
2. Tainted
(Earth)
3. Tepid
(Water)
4. Tribal
(Fire)
5. Protection
and Precaution
6. Discipline
(featuring Ayria)
7. Techno
Zombies
8. The World
That I See (Trance Mix)
9. Let the
Planet Burn (Still Burning Mix featuring Battery Cage and Terrorfakt)
10. Folie à
Deux (featuring It-Clings)
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Prospero - Folie a Deux: The Elements & The Madness |
CD $10.97
CAD
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