M S L - The Remnants of...

Hear The Track Here

At this stage of the game, I have five MSL tracks under my belt, so I should know what to expect by now. The Remnants of... isn't, to be honest, that much of a surprise. I first came across MSL when I reviewed their Keep It High (October 2005) track. Obviously the review was full of my usual gripes and groans about the genre but I think MSL came off quite well, it had an infectious breezy quality about it that quelled my usual sneering at the genre. The same is true of The Dimension of Sound (December 2005), The Night Before the Hangover (January 2006), all of which recieved favourable receptions from this pair of ears.

They've been experimenting a bit since then, dabbling especially in classical waters and it shows with this interesting electronic/classical hybrid. It takes a while to get to the real meat and potatoes of the track though so be prepared to sweat it a bit at first. My initial reaction was that whole thing sounded a bit disjointed, and after many places I can see why I got that impression. There is a lot going on in the arrangement of this track (a very good thing), but that may well be off-putting for the more casual listener. Still, fekk 'em eh? It did take a few sessions on this track before I started to feel comfortable with it, and even now I have reservations. I think I understand what the band were after here and I think they've almost got it.

Some of the sounds were - I felt - a bit too 'synthetic', especially with the choir sound. That's also an essential part of the whole picture too, and I do feel that a more 'human' sounding choir would really make this track ready to rumble. What is here however, is more than adequate to the task, except for mad scientists like meself of course - nit pick 'til Doomsday. It would help if you have a liking for classical structures and/or techno based sounds but if not this epic sounding track may well capture your attention anyway. Given time, the tracks excellent melodies do work a splendid massage in yer earholes, especially in the bass synth sections. Despite reservations about some of the sounds, this is another big step forward for MSL and a sure indication of how fast they are picking up new tricks.