Junk Culture
Wild Quiet
Illegal Art
Aug 02, 2012 Web Exclusive
Oxford, Mississippi’s Deepak Mantena—Junk Culture’s wizard-behind-the-curtain—takes the languid, retro-pop vibes of the recent chillwave rush and injects his personal experiences of hurting and pain, giving some welcome emotional weight to this steamy woozadelica. (His debut’s tentpole track, “Ceremony,” is probably the most uplifting song about death you’ll hear all year.) This human touch extends through other elements of the album: Mantena samples himself playing each of the instruments before recording live accompaniment and layering in his soggy, reverb-steeped vocals. It all winds up feeling surprisingly intimate, whether he’s dabbling in punch-drunk rhythms and synths in “Dwell,” testing New Romantic waves in “Washington,” or adding lounge lizard keyboard sleaze to “Wild Quiet.” This debut album is certainly a promising start. (www.myspace.com/nojunkculture)
Author rating: 7/10
Average reader rating: 9/10
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