Etic - Feedback

Etic is one of the precious few israeli artists who doesn’t make full-power full on. Its refreshing to see the melding of styles he creates when he writes, its not quite progressive, but not quite full on- something that hovers nicely in between with elements of both. “Feedback” is his 2nd album on Translucent, after his successful release “Touch Ups”- and he continues where he left off. A very original and trademark sound, Etic’s music is groovy and percussive, with uplifting melodies and musical ideas.

The album opens with “Got my Senses Back”- Warm and funky music with a nice progressive direction. Winding sounds and a bass that makes you move, this one’s a nice opening track. “Wishes” is up next, and its not as flowing and windy- more flat beat with nice tribal atmospheres. The 2nd half of the track opens up with some nice uplifting melodies and a nice gallop- one for the Sunday afternoon I think.

“Last Tune” has a very pounding bass, and is very percussion driven. Reminds me a little bit of some of the tracks on the older album. Electrical Inspiration takes it a little bit more into melodic progressive territory- perhaps a little too much for me in this one. Not a bad track, but takes the high end noises a bit far for my taste.

“Untitled Yet” returns the album to deeper and more pounding territory, driving bass this one has. Keeping its nice minimal touch, but moving into some more full-on influences now. “Miscommunication” is one id class totally in the morning full-on genre- driving bassline with a bit more intensity in sound and rhythm. Nice to see he caters for more than one crowd.

“Aspects of Music” is up next, probably one of my favourite tracks of the CD. Seen it working well on the dancefloor, its just got a nice minimal vibe without too much melody. Nice percussion and bass- solid track to keep the dancefloor moving. “Feedback” moves the album into deeper more progressive territory again, slowing down the groove a bit. Bit more space than some of the tracks, reminds me a little of liquid soul’s stuff. Nice work.

The album finishes with 2 more electro/ambient style tracks (Late Echoes of Goa and RU Cool), nice dubby vibes, soundscapes and percussive elements. A nice end to a nice see, one that showcases the full width of this talented artist’s style.

It’s always refreshing to see something different out of Israel, and I had been a fan of Etic since his first album. I wouldn’t say this release sets any new benchmarks, but it does keep a consistant groovy vibe throughout and is a maturation of the sounds heard in Etic’s last album. This guy definitely has a bright future ahead of him, congratulations on a nice release and look forward to hearing more Etic music in the future.

7/10

Review by Jesse Kuch