Free Andromeda

Timothy J. Fairplay releases a new album today, Free Andromeda, out on Sweden's Hoga Nord record label. Tim has a room stacked with vintage synths, drum machines, FX units and pedals. He's been releasing music since 2011, a steady stream of 12" singles, cassettes and albums. On Free Andromeda Tim has pulled all his signature sounds into one unified whole, under the label electro but with a variety of influences seeping in- video game soundtracks, science fiction, West German cosmische from the 1970s, East Germany in the 80s, the soundtrack work of John Carpenter (not least Escape From New York), Italian horror soundtracks by the likes of Goblin, Vangelis and the rhythms and sounds of rave and bleep techno. 

Free Andromeda bursts into life with the opening track The Gang Sets Free. Distorted squelch bass, thudding kick drum and filtered synth lines providing the melodies- it all goes off further with the arrival of the hi- hats. Drum pads bounce in. There's no fade in or softness, everything is on the B of the bang and the K of the kick drum, the Attack dial turned all the way to the left. 

Dreams Of Andromeda follows sharply, gentler rhythms at the start but still a fast tempo. Acid squiggles and a sinuous keyboard melody, part vintage sci fi, part Eastern scales. Maniac Death follows, wobbly bass and the tsk tsk tsk of the cymbal. More repetitive topline melodies and arpeggios, altering subtly. At three minutes ten seconds a wall of synths crash in. Fourth track A Remarkable Claim cuts the tempos in half, bump and grind bassline from somewhere near Miami and bleeps from somewhere, Sheffield maybe, or the further reaches of the Milky Way. Satanic Cults is a wall of rave synths and crashing drums, 1990's promise of bedroom technology, 'faceless dance music' and white labels- exhilarating stuff with a voice from American television intoning, 'our families, our children and our communities' and then 'satanic cults'. 

The title track bounds in, driving rhythms, energy and tempo levels still high. Sci fi phaser sounds, rising keyboard stabs, rattling drums, a voice repeating the title. There's a breakdown and the synth sounds go all whooshy, veering from left to right, tension building. The percussion hits in and the kick drum thumps back, walls of synth again, the voice comes back, missives from the outer reaches. Eyes All Over The City halves the tempo, built around a huge rubbery bass part. Underwater Struggle comes in like the early 80s, reel to reel tapes and Roland Juno sounds and an echo laden lead line that could possibly be a guitar- the retro- futuristic sound of a nightclub somewhere in East Berlin. The Source Of This Energy finishes the album in style, six minutes of taut, John Carpenter meets Altern- 8 electro with a distorted voice muttering the song's title while the 808 bangs away.