Review by Josh Felty
Rating: ***
Imagine lines from the most iconic motion pictures in history set to a industrial-pop techno landscape of phasers, zongs, and zangs. I don't know what a 'zong' is really, but you get the drift.
I'm also gonna leave the movie references in the bag, because Dragonfly Lingo's Offscreen is a true piece of art to behold. If you're a fan of Nine Inch Nails, Tricky, Chemical Brothers or pretty much any other semi-techno or industrial conglomeration, you'll truly appreciate Offscreen.
There's more than drum machines and digital tinkerings throughout though: some impressive drumming and exquisite sonic guitar layering adds to the mystique of some of the film line odes. I'm still trying to figure out some of them. And the beautiful thing about techno is that's it is constantly evolving. There are elements of trance and Euro-pop sprinkled in this one, but there is also an industrial element lurking about, which is a remarkable parallel in style choice.
And I must add, the use of synthesizers is quite alluring also. There's nothing worse than listening to bad synth work; no problems with that here though. The vibrant textures and roiling combinations (was that a female vocal or an actual movie line?) really draws you in, whether you have a hunger for techno or not.
It may not be everybody's bag, because there are some who aren't really into techno. It's totally understandable; we all have different things that satisfy our ears. I recommend Dragonfly Lingo's Offscreen (and probably any other compilation they release) because they seem to have an unbound passion for that which they release.
And making music (or doing anything creative, for that matter) without some inkling of passion is just wrong.