Promised Miracles, Trust – album review
The artist collective, Promised Miracles, has just dropped a mix of Australian music, which takes in experimental, ambient electro through to post punk grunge. Entitled ‘Trust’, the mix was carefully compiled by Adam Christou, the Music Director of RTRFM 92.1 in Perth, Western Australia. Damon Collum reviews the mix for Something You Said:
Being a slave to public transport in Sydney is a love hate thing for me, the random characters and events making a welcome distraction to the otherwise dulll trip to work each day. The only other thing better than a singing drunk in a suit swinging from the overhead handstraps whilst on a 7am journey to work is my iPod. Music is the key to overcoming any transport headache and solace when preparing for the 9-5.
‘Trust’ from Promised Miracles is exactly the kind of soundtrack that can massage the mind and help you escape to a comfy seat behind your eyeballs as your body goes through the motions. Personally I am fussy with my tunes and my taste swings from day to day, so mixes are a good way to keep things changed up.
Listening as I write this, I was taken in by Roland Tings’ intro track ‘Who U Love’ and settled into the journey. To create a good mixtape, like playing a good DJ set, you need to set a mood and know how to carry it, to stir the right ingredients in and create a delicious aural experience. There is a nice walk into ‘Ancient City’ by Turkish Prison (who earlier this year provided a stellar remix of Cut Copy’s ‘We Are Explorers’) which then neatly sidesteps into ‘Pipe Dreams’ by Sui Zhen who also recently released this track. ‘Pipe Dreams’ detracts slightly from the lead-in’s more minimal beats and drops the pace into Sui’s soothing vocals, The beat is soon back into the minimal and enchanting ‘Deatheat’ by Guerre, and further tweaked and slightly sautéed as ‘Untoward’ fades in. ‘Untoward’ had a slightly twisted, minimal feel and the track is very cerebral. Perhaps setting the atmosphere for which it was originally created, award-winning game “Duet” ; in itself is an intensely engaging and cerebral experience.
But the mix is not all purely electronica. The tracks seem to sit side-by-side comfortably and add to a landscape of great Australian artists. Even by the time you reach “Down At The Docks” your heartbeat hasn’t risen past half-awake. When describing this track, artist Nathan Roche said “All I ever wanted was to run a game of cards in a smokey fisherman shack at the end of a jetty.” What I got was Talking Heads having long slow drunk sex with Tom Waits, ending with a sleazy acid spa outro.
From a thousand downloadable music producing programs, with everyone able to more efficiently create and deliver their music, there can at times be a sea of artists and work coming out, and distinguishing that work is not always an easy task. What ‘Trust’ shows is that Australia is home to a wealth of talent and Adam Christou has put together a distinctive and clever line up or emerging artists.
Have a listen below:
Review by Damon Collum.
