Here’s something dreadful: I listened to Koloto‘s music, liked it; and then saw that it was made by a woman, and then I made a judgement.
I couldn’t even help it. It wasn’t a negative judgement, just that I suddenly looked at the music in a whole new way, merely because I found out that this producer of electronic music, unusually, was not a man.
Sigh.
But just to clarify: there is nothing ‘female’ about Kill Screen, just as there is nothing ‘masculine’ about, say, Underworld’s Skyscraper, I Love You. (Well, unless you subscribe to the skyscraper/phallus imagery theory, but I digress).
But my automatic response is quite odd, and probably says a lot; although about what, I’m not sure.
Anyway – Koloto is extremely talented when it comes to assembling a collage of noises and making them into a happy, jittering mess. see what you can pick out: I’m sure at one point there is a quick sample of coins being dropped onto a table.
Kill Screen is a game of two halves, and whilst the second, madly jabbering half is a perfect juxtaposition, I prefer the first half, which builds lazily, with odd sounds punctuating it; teasing the inevitable heaviness to follow.
And if we have to return to the thorny issue of gender for a second, isn’t it wonderful that the internet effectively rules out any prejudice and that a song can be appreciated for exactly what it is? No wonder so many artists hide under anonymity. Smart cookies.
MORE: soundcloud.com/koloto
Whoa, this track is sick. If I hadn’t read that the second half of the “game” was different than the first, I probably would have skipped to the next thing already, but instead I skipped to the second half, and then, shocked at how much it had changed, decided to go back and listen to the full transformation.
If I had to pick sides, I’d pick the second half, but the second half has much more impact when it hits b/c the first half sets it up so nicely, and the 1st half w/o the 2nd half would be too boring by itself. So, they need each other.