MD-1 Project - Sonic Sunday

Hear The Track Here

Although I've never really been a big fan of noise, even the controlled variety, one artist has managed to peel back my innate cynicism enough to grab quite a large foothold on my hard drive. Yep folks, the worlds's only (probably) freakbeat experimentalist has become a potent force over the last couple of years and - dare I say this - an envelope-pusher of the first order. Although it has to be said that Ricky Mancini's (aka MD-1 Project) collaboration with Melinda Mohn in Stella Polaris Project is what first acclimatised my ears towards his particular musical style, consequent MD-1 Project tracks have become much easier for me to get close too. So much so that two of them managed to land up in my Tracks Of The Year 2008 collection, and believe me that is a hard place to get to. It just goes to show, I guess, that first impressions can often be very misleading and that - given time and application - even the weirdest of things gains merit. And there isn't much out there that is weirder that MD-1 Project, mark my words.

You may be forgiven for thinking that working in Trance/techno, industrial, dance, DnB is going to be a breeze to listen to for just about anybody with a pair of ears, but whatever you do don't make that mistake around this artist. No matter what genre he is working in, Ricky Mancini is going going to stomp his own inimitable style on it. That means lots of ear-bending wtf and where did that come from? moments, and even more so on the more extreme forms he works in. Sonic Sunday, despite its peaceful sounding title, is in fact a Monday morning session at the local steel mill where you are rolled from huge machine to huge machine, pummeled by sounds as large as the Himalayas and spat out of the end as a bright, shiny peice of scoured metal. And that's just your brain, I am still wondering where the rest of my body ended up.

From the opening (brilliantly stated) few beats to the sputtering ending, Sonic Sunday is an assault on all senses at once; a bltizkreig of sound that takes no prisoners. I find myself respecting this musicians production skills more and more as time goes on and when the bulk of his material is instrumental, that assumes some importance. It's in the way he puts his tracks together that really gets my attention though and Sonic Sunday is a masterclass of what MD-1 Project is all about. As an industrial track Sonic Sunday is right up there, a HUGE wall of sound that there is no escape from and - surprisingly enough - a much more accessible MD-1 Project track than many. But I don't like industrial music, you may cravenly admit, but there again that is the beauty of this particular artist; I don't like any of the genres this guy works in normally but when he does it, it's often worth the listen. Or, in case, definitely something you should be checking out regardless of your own personal preferences. There just isn't anyone around like MD-1 Project, taste it and see but whatever you do make sure you are wearing a hard hat (and ears, and body come to that). Excellent experimental industrial.

Highly Recommended and MUST HAVE for fans.