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Modern technology has brought us a lot of interesting tools we can use to create music. Thus, spawning a generation of recording artist's who exploit them. Claiming no particular genre or format, the songs and recordings of PHIL VOID are mostly derived by improvisation and stream of conciousnessness. The results are varied and many.
New album 'East of Somewhere' is available at the usual digital outlets.
Phil Void is a forward-thinking artist and song-writer based in San Francisco, California. His local music scene is known all over the world for the captivating, uplifting and influential sounds coming out of the bay area, spanning genres as diverse as pop, alternative rock and electronica. Phil Void is part of the same greater music scene, although his output is definitely something that stands in a league of its own.
It all starts from Phil’s bare and minimalist aesthetics: the simple elegance of his album artworks are a reflection of the evocative minimalism that animate his songs. In particular, Phil Void’s latest studio effort, “East Of Somewhere” is a full-length album featuring 12 tracks that showcase the artist’s visionary and forward-thinking attitude.
The opening track, “On With The Show” immediately strikes for the fascinating sitar-like tones, which are expertly combined with an indie rock background made of fuzzy overdriven guitars, heavy drums and melodic bass lines. Phil Void’s vocals are refreshingly raw and spontaneous. His direct singing approach allows his honest lyrics to come through as genuine and direct, adding an even more intimate feel.
The unique vocal effects and quirky arrangements of second track “100 Stories” echo the work of the late David Bowie, with his electro / art-rock style quirks and deep baritone vocals. One of my absolute favorite tracks within the entire album is definitely “Sky is Falling”, a track that blurs the lines between 90s alternative rock (think Nirvana or Soundgarden…) with subtle synths elements and industrial rhythm patterns that add some massive depth and power. I love the way the noisy, buzzing synth pads blend in with the crunchy electric guitar and with the bass lines.
Closing number “Howling Wolf” is most definitely another highlight of the album. “Massive” is the only word that really comes to mind when I attempt to describe the threatening, slow and heavy tom-based drum pattern, combined with the thrashing bass tones and with the free-form sax leads. Truly one of the most unique and spontaneous songs on the entire album. - the bandcamp diaries
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Delusions of the Pampered Album Reviews
Back in 2008, Phil Void released a full length album titled “Delusions of the Pampered”. This release, published under Last Stop Records, is a collection of 12 songs that blur the lines between alternative rock and avant-garde, echoing the work of seminal performers the likes of Sonic Youth, Yo La Tengo or Broken Social Scene, just to mention but a few.
Phil Void’s direct and essentialist approach to sound combines with his witty lyricism and iconoclastic antics, bridging the gaps between galvanizing poetry and gritty garage rock aesthetics. One of the most striking aspects of this record is that the songs featured within the release appear experimental and somewhat free-form, sporting a very genuine and spontaneous feel. On the other hand, these songs are far from being impromptu jam sessions. The production is remarkably detailed and there is a really obvious attention to details and concept planning that runs like a thread keeping the entire album together.
Phil Void's 2008 full feature effort "Delusions of the pampered" is an uncompromising act of pre-meditated "mRRda" committed against the casual concept of silence. The premiere name of the central game is a massively irresistible urge to deliver variety both in the context of intensity and musical rhetorics.
The album is not reluctant to showcase a wide spectrum of genres to be visited, and finds an abundant amount of playtime to be spent by the act of performing said visitations with various key strategies stored in the whimsical mind.
The mere potentiality of playfulness is invited, welcomed- and even praised throughout the record, regardless of the inevitable consequence of how the spin absorbs the inescapable lack a cohesive-, abundant flow to it, as result of the conscious decision of not wanting to have to tolerate a label that it could be shackled with. The album is not even secretive about this: its cover is not just a hint, but rather a declaration: abandon all expetations you who listen in here. Splice yourself in/out/off, and read on to know more.
Regardless of its optimally erratic propensity to wander around along a colorful set of creative behaviours, the spin certainly showcases some central fascinations with two frequently visited genres in its focus: a Faith No More-esque approach to hip-hop (Epic) and a massively guitar-driven post-punk direction are two staples that the delivery is keen to fall back on - the case is especially is such whenever a longer segment of the experimental routes have found their way to their logical conclusions.
These aforementioned portions form the most dominant aspects of the full-musculature value of the songcraft to be found and be immersed in, while the experimental direction is wise enough to take it slow, and take it thorough. A meditative ambition is a frequent-, much welcomed companion, with due time devoted and given to the mere-, respective concepts of carefully engineered sounds exhibited along the channels of clever pulsation and repetition. These precedents with their much more introverted and intimate sentiments do reign in a sharp-, yet intriguing contrast with the fully fleshed out melodic compositions that deliberately possess all anatomical charateristics of a structurally sound melodic song.
As noted, the post-punk direction is a staple herein, and its realization validates no particular degree of negative criticism: an adept, even Yoda-level understanding of the key mechanics of post-punk is observable, and the disc makes it evident that it came to Kill All On Sight, whenever the said demeanor is unleashed on receptors. The exqusite production work is of further note in these instances: the guitars are tormented with "good" oldschool care that smuggles a teardop unto the retina of any and all inquisitors, while the drums are sitting in a perfect position with that exqusite sound of the hyper-optimized snare that is able and willing to cut through everything as if it was a mere promise.
A very colorful and vivid disc, that is nothing short of a mindfuck, and, depending on your current state of "mind", - this might be exactly what you are looking for OR running from. A vibrant delivery without compromises, and, as such, also a disc with an immediate recommendation for all who is eager to be slammed against some sonic walls of monstrous sounds for the mere fun of it.
