textura

Albums
Actress
Ellen Allien
The Alps
Aniline
Anodyne
Tommy Babin's Benzene
Maya Beiser
Pier Bucci
Budd & Wright
Celer
Ceremony
Richard Chartier
Deceptikon
Deepchord & Echospace
Marcel Dettmann
Dirac
Efdemin
GéNIA
Guillaume & C. Dumonts
Hammock
Helvacioglu & Boysen
Richard A Ingram
Inhabitants
Marsen Jules
Akira Kosemura
Manual
Dom Mino'
Teruyuki Nobuchika
Nono/ Wakabayashi
Olan Mill
Originalljudet
Fabio Orsi
M.Ostermeier
Rene Hell
Jeffrey Roden
J. Rogers
Roll The Dice
Secret Cities
Soundpool

Compilations / Mixes
Main Control Board
SEED X: Part I - III

EPs
Alternative Networks Vol. 2
Aural Diptych Series # 1
Aural Diptych Series # 2
Celer
Deerhoof vs OneOne
Filterwolf
Incite/
Ketem
Kogumaza
Yann Novak
Poratz
Quiroga
Repeat Orchestra
Sepalcure
Sub Loam
v4w.enko
The Zeitgeist EP

DVD
Stephen Vitiello

Soundpool: Mirrors in Your Eyes
Killer Pimp

An unstoppable sugar rush for the ears, Soundpool's Mirrors In Your Eyes serves up nine infectious, hook-filled songs that draw from electro-pop, disco, and shoegaze in equal measure. Leading the charge are Kim Field's lighter-than-air vocals, John Ceparano's guitar washes, Mark Robinson's shimmering synthetic atmospheres, and drummer James Renard and bassist Sanford Santacroce, a rhythm section clearly well-schooled in the art of funk. Throughout the album, Field's angelic voice floats serenely overtop a rich base of earthy rhythmning and raw guitar flourishes.

The album whirrs into motion with the title track's disco-funk splendor, its pulsating bass lines and ethereal vocals aglow with shoegaze radiance. Ceparano contributes some suitably heavy guitar wail while bassist extraordinaire Santacroce adds to the song's core pulse with inspired variations. “But It's So” is as satisfying in its pairing of a thick disco groove and soaring vocal melodies, while “Kite of Love” digs into its funk beat with gusto. Following a synth strings intro, “Makes No Sense” slams into position with pounding electro and guitar atmospherics that render Field's lyrics all but indecipherable (Ceparano stretches out even more powerfully in an epic solo turn on “I'm So Tired” and almost buries his band-mates with molten fuzz during “That Sunny Day”). Not that that matters much anyway, as Mirrors In Your Eyes rises or falls on the strength of its sound and songs, not lyrics, and on such grounds it wholly succeeds.

Sounding for all the world like the ideal addition to a Goldfrapp double-bill (the surging dynamo “Shelter” in particular sounds tailor-made for Soundpool's better-known kin), the NY-based quintet delivers on its third album a euphoric and near-perfect realization of its intended sound. Also worth keeping an eye out for is a planned twelve-inch EP featuring remixes by Strategy, Colder, Lawrence Chandler (Bowery Electric), and GTO.

June 2010