Keeler - Autofocus FLAC

The artist claims this is a bid at the commercial side of electronic music, more so than what was to follow' and indeed it probably has a far wider appeal. Which is not to say that it is commercial, in the usual 'fodder-for-the-masses sense, but rather it's an easily-digestible form. It opens with "The Ecstasy Of Being", a piece of relaxing music which slowly drifts on layered keyboards while various fragments of percussion fly off in all directions as if the amorphous body were firing off slow-motion sparks in rainbow colours. And when the whole piece changes chord, it does so to splendid effect. "Bugler" is a little faster & tighter, falling somewhere between mild EBM & the least cliched EuroRock. There might be degrees of KRAFTWERK here, held in bright stasis, with wafer-thin section of early HUMAN LEAGUE's sound pasted in. "Cuba In The 50's" has more of a tune & the percussion is more regular & a degree more intense, with Latin American percussion popping up here & there, blending surprisingly well with the more modern synthetic sound. Again there are degrees of the Seventies European Electronic scene. There's even a marked element of JEAN MICHEL JARRE in there - circa "Revolutions". "A God's-Eye View" is a little more moody - not actually dark, but prefering to dwell in shadows rather than in the sunlight. Again it has an insidious tune to it - more one you remember once you hear it again, than one which hooks you & won't let go. "Ritual Moves" follows a similar darkly relaxing mood, with flat synth lead lines giving a disquieting alien feel to the music. "Looking Back Ahead" is a strange piece with a sound like the more bizarre track on HUMAN LEAGUE's "Dignity Of Labour" EP - lots of heavy LFO on each synth line gives it a warped feel, as if it cannot hold it's pitch, yet stays in tune. Next up is "Undercurrent" following a similar dark and strange sound with an - I have to say it - undercurrent of almost martial music combined with his strange sounds & almost Latin American composition, dense with wobbling keyboards & all manner of percussion. "Mesopotamia" again harkens towards JARRE's "Revolutions" album - in fact could almost be an offcut from the album, with degrees of his earlier "Zoolook" work. It has a gentle, sustained atmosphere rather than a tune as such, hardly moving, yet illuminated with golden light - an airless vacuum of a barn with beams of purest sunlight penetrating through the slats. "Ground Swell" closes the album - again harkening back to the music of KRAFTWERK, although KEELER injects his own unique sound into it, making it a more complex, warmer, less clinical sound.
This is a good starting point for those interested in the music of KEELER but I wouldn't say it was a 'best' album - merely a more accessible one - all his works (that I have heard) are equally as good, but this is easier to 'get into'.

Originally reviewed for Soft Watch.