IGLOOGHOST’s Kaleidoscopic Journey in Steel Mogu and Clear Tamei

IGLOOGHOST | Steel Mogu / Clear Tamei | Self Release

Release Date: 8th August 2018

Image Credit: Tim Twiss

Review by Jenna Dreisenstock

In sculpting a brand new world out of the vivid, glitter and melancholia; a conceptual visual experience that comes with the stunning art of the imaginative narrative beckons in fantasy and genre-defying world building, evolving, learning and blooming in textural experimentation.

English producer IGLOOGHOST (aka Seamus Malliagh) has no trouble standing out from crowd; his eclectic visual storytelling which accompanies the artists msuical work is a shimmering gem that immediately captures the eye. Along with the visual conceptualisation, Iglooghost has sculpted his narrative using his genre-defying electronic skills to produce a sound that speaks not only in his artistic narrative but his unique personality which shines through his auditory traverse. A follow up (yet, prequel) to his previous album Neō Wax Bloom, Steel Mogu and Clear Tamei are two EPs released in conjunction with one another, furthering IGLOOGHOST’s surreal narrative.

This article contains two short reviews of each EP.

Steel Mogu

Opening in saccharine melodrama ‘Black Light Ultra’ glows in neon artificiality, singing in chamber chorus; announcing regal entrance, the glittering electric timbres introduce the track as a revered martian queen. A twilight bubble of synthesizer and atmospheric ambience shimmer in a science-fiction chip-tune, building space time continuum into climatic percussive blast-off. Jovial, sweetened melodies dance carefree among driving glitching beats, oscillating in psychedelia cry out in candy-cane soak and theatrical operatic samples; scratching and swelling timbres in turntable robotics. The lunacy of vibrance drives forward in a fast-paced mesmer, incorporating alternate tones and style from samples in sparkling genre-defiance.

A greeting of heavily distorted 80s embrace, ‘Mei Mode’ opens in a gentle ambience; experimenting in timbre before breaking to the heavy, pop-drenched fuzz of a high-treble synth. Shrieking in electronic machine-gun fire, automatic pop bursts beat as glitter bullets grace manic glitches in confident dance. An artificial intelligence seeped in industrial effect-heavy rave, neon vivid ebbs and flows (erratically) in progression. The distorted punch of stop-start break and and silence in distortion and eclectic haze as a spherical embrace grows in overwhelming buzzing ambience. Melodic robotic and alien harmony, the tempo dives back and forth within and out the kaleidoscopic rabbit hole; gentle strings appearing in melancholia briefly in curiosity.

Clear Tamei

Loving and gentle, the twirl of candy-pop melody greets us in ‘New Vectors’, a tender hand hold in layering electronic texture in a honeyed caress; simmering in uptempo percussive. Sponge-cake baking in coloured soundscape icing, sparkling electronics star stud the soundscape as the track seeps into a heavier progression. The concern of the bassline clicks with the stern percussion, a melancholia in the sampled timbres and textural atmosphere, an unexpected juxtaposition in tone. An operatic siren song in longing soprano laments over the dynamic glitch, with the introduction of traditional instruments further creating layers of sound in electric splendour. The twinkle of glass, chiming classical juxtaposed with heavy breakdown beats and melancholic vocals sing in harmony with both the classical and electronic; a mixture between a painful feeling and a tender one.

An introduction in heart-beat flow, a rise and fall opens synthetic lungs in ‘Namā’, tinkering and clicking, swirling and mechanical textural push lays beneath animated industrial progression. Chiming in melody amongst a confident yet harsh progression, high-pitched textures shriek lovingly in companionship as a psychedelic chip-tune dance roams in cherry-burst dance. Tetris in fast-motion as each timbre fits in jigsaw flash, evolving into a rough sweetness in a pastel-coloured textural landscape. The confidence of IGLOOGHOST’s unique personality colours the percussive adrenaline of the track, blasting forward in neon-glow.

The juxtaposing album artworks in their accompanying lightness and darkness speak aesthetically in the complementation of each EP in each musical style. The exploration of narrative in the energetic, overwhelming darker tone of Steel Mogu amongst the accompanying pastel-heart beat of reflective melancholia in Clear Tamei reflect IGLOOGHOST’s journey in molding his narrative within his unique stylistic personality and addictive sound.

Purchase Steel Mogu and Clear Tamei by IGLOOGHOST

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