Melt by Young Magic
LABEL: Carpark Records

As the discourse of globalization continues, cultural critics have come to realize that aesthetic objects are no longer indexed to specific locations, temporalities, and cultural ontologies. But despite the drastic diversity of the current global musical landscape, some continuities between early manifestations of globalization and modern global music remain: consider briefly a record like Paul Simon’s Graceland, which might borrow from “the other,” so to speak, but is still firmly tied to Western cultural privilege — specifically, the privilege of being able to “pick and choose” what elements of the other’s aesthetic have value for the Western musician’s goal, and being able to cogently combine these disparate elements into a fully-Western sound, thereby ‘expanding’ the sonic palette of Western pop. The asymmetry of power between the West and the Rest, as culture critics term the domains, is therefore readily apparent.

I frame my review of Young Magic’s debut album to emphasize the cultural heritage of this young trio’s musical methods: the brainchild of New York-by-way-of-Australia backpacker Isaac Emmanuel, Young Magic spent much of 2010 traveling around the world, collecting sounds from places as diverse as London, Rome, Antwerp... they captured the sonic beauty of “old spy bases near Berlin, empty rooms in Iceland, kids’ playgrounds in Melbourne, and no-water flats in New York.” During Isaac’s travels, Young Magic blossomed into being: Isaac met up with Australian expat Michael Italia in Mexico, and in New York City they joined forces with their mutual friend Melati Malay. Malay is an Indonesian vocalist who, essentially, provided the icing on this washed-out cake after Isaac and Michael had collected their source materials. But despite what it might look like on paper, these diverse global sonic touchstones, in fact, meld and “melt” together — no pun intended.

   Young Magic - Slip Time by Carpark Records

This is not world music. There are rhythms here with a vaguely ‘ethnic’ feel — check “The Dancer” and “Yalam” — but, the rhythmic impetus here arises more out of California than anything else. The Brainfeeder and Low End scene influences are clear from the get-go. The opening track, “Sparkly,” promises an album replete with satisfying tensions in the interaction between the soaring, blissful upper register (Malay’s ethereal vocals particularly) and the earthy electronic drum beats. “Sparkly” starts with a stuttering kick and a jangly accompanying rhythm, escalating in tension as a tribal drum pattern compels you to nod your head while the soft, faded melodic timbres compel you to lie down on a beach somewhere. It’s a wonderful intro, and even at 3:39 it feels short. It’s probably my favorite track on the album. But there are other compelling moments to be found: the water jugs on "Slip Time" forming a melodic rhythm, along with the piercing, high-pitched yell in that track’s upper register accompanying the bristling, stuttering percussion; or the rattling, jangly rhythm on “Yalam,” which completely overpowers the rest of the woefully-short track...

I definitely enjoyed this album, but I feel the echo-drenched, soft edges of Melt do literally that — they melt together, and while the group create a coherent sound, it’s not as distinctive as I had expected, given the group’s collective experiences. Despite the vast, globally-disparate array of source material Young Magic draw on, there’s an introspective distance to this music: it sounds more like it came from the twiddling fingers of young urban (and urbane) adults on their laptops — it’s not at all the visceral interaction of the Western subject with global music, despite the physical journey the group took to compile the widely-varying sample base. It’s more like a curatorial experiment.Thus, like I mentioned in my opening paragraph, this is profoundly Western music, in that Young Magic tries to physicalize their disembodied, shoegaze-inspired sound by adding electronically-crafted approximations of the girthy rhythms of the indigenous "other." I can’t help but question why so much emphasis has been placed on the Young Magic’s globetrotting — it’s almost a matter of authenticity, which is a shame because some of the tunes here are stellar, and speak for themselves.

   Young Magic - Night In The Ocean by Carpark Records

I definitely think Young Magic has potential. And I do think Melt is a pretty album, but I feel they need more bite. The mumbling raps and damaged lead guitar texture on album centerpiece “Night In The Ocean” are, in fact, some of the most distinctive moments on the album. Eventually, Malay’s cooing falsetto ends up floating away, carried by the wind, slowly losing its impact just as the rhythms do. This happens despite the waning impact, check the punch that “Sanctuary” packs toward the album’s closing. It also seems that the released singles — “Sparkly,” “You with Air,” “Night in the Ocean” — are more developed than the rest of the tracks, particularly the shorter ones, which seem like mortar holding together the more substantial bricks on which this record is built. I have faith these guys will continue to develop and eventually distinguish themselves.


REVIEWED BY MANUEL ABREU
MANUEL’S FAVE TRACKS: “Sparkly” •  “Night in the Ocean” • “Sanctuary”