Featuring edgy electro pianist
Chilly Gonzales (aka Jason Beck) and Hamburg-based beat junkie
Boys Noize (aka Alexander Ridha),
Octave Minds are an odd couple side project with a seemingly predictable sound for those who know the duo's past. Satie-like piano lines over slick,
Depeche Mode-inspired beats is the indie electro chamber music one might imagine, and yet, this self-titled debut is only that in fits and starts. Slide those club shoes back under the bed as
Octave Minds, the album, is a composed and varied adventure, an adventure where
Chance the Rapper joins for what sounds like an Off-Off-Off-Broadway joint called "Tap Dance," as if Bob Fosse showed up to rehearsals wearing Mishka streetwear and with an iPod full of
Daft Punk and
Action Bronson. All that, and the vigorous track is brimming with life, as is the opening "Symmetry Slice," where
Beck and Ridha display a jazz-like interplay, or the suitably cinematic "The Projectionist," a minimalist-influenced and elegant number that is forward and proud with its beauty. "Anthem" gets dazzling about midpoint, like a
Philip Glass piece with an 808 drum machine caught up in its swirl, and if there are two primary moods to the album, they're "stately" and "uplifting," neither of which are common in 2014's indie electronica. Side projects don't often feel like bands, especially when they're duos, but
Octave Minds do.
Beck and Ridha have followed the music instead of the expectations on this startling debut, and with that, they've created an album to adore and advocate. ~ David Jeffries