Konntinent (aka Antony Harrison) has delivered us his second album Down With Candy a follow-up to the generally well received Opal Island release. Though this is a bit of a step away from Opal Island in nearly every way; tone, style and substance all prove to be significantly changed. Instead of the hisses, clicks and all the rest that was used to create the moody soundscape of Opal Island we are greeted with a more synth heavy sound. A lot of the tracks, most notably "Red Lion," give echoes of Kraftwerk but darker and with a heavier drum beat. This is not to say that it's a bad thing in fact it's just different to what was expected and it's pulled off very well. The overall feel of the album is fuller than that of its predecessor, there are fewer gaps, there are fewer quiet moments and the feel is somewhat less moody. If anything this album feels grander, with the piercing synths on the title track and the overwhelming sounds on "New Neo Tokyo."
The thing that makes this album unique is that it's a live album, Harrison says on his blog:
"Down With Candy is a collection of live session tracks from November last year - all single take recordings using a bunch of synths, a guitar, field recordings, piss poor drum machine ramming, a mixing desk and a lot of frantic nob twiddling. The sessions were split by a week in Miami drinking whisky by the ocean - which definitely had an influence. Down With Candy was performed as a single 30 minute set at Cafe Oto on Nov 25th as part of the OTObahn event."
This makes it a little bit more impressive and a welcome knowledge that Harrison can deliver live as well. There are moments when the synths grate as they are sharp and piercing which for a frequently synth dominated sound is a major drawback. On top of which there are times that the guitar is a bit alien and perhaps unnecessary but overall Konntinent has created a good album, it's great for anyone who would be a fan of a darker version of the Komische sound.
[Konntinent Blog]
[Buy Down With Candy from Debacle Records]
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