Velocity: Design: Comfort＜Colored Vinyl/限定盤＞

サンフランシスコを拠点に活動し、シューゲイザーの轟音とIDMの緻密な電子音、さらにはボサノヴァの軽やかさまでを一点に集約させたROBERTO BURGOSとVALERIE COOPERによるデュオ、SWEET TRIP。00年代以降の電子音楽とインディ・ロックの邂逅を最も幸福な形で体現し、後続のアーティストたちに決定的な指針を示した伝説的プロジェクトです。

オリジナルは2003年発表の2NDアルバム。リリース当時は時代を先取りしすぎた感があったものの、インターネット世代のリスナーによって再発見され、今やエレクトロ・シューゲイザーの頂点として崇められる名作です。

激しく明滅するデジタル・ノイズの狭間から、VALERIE COOPERの透き通るような歌声が浮かび上がる"DSCO"や、グリッチ・ビートと美しいメロディが並走する"CHOCOLATE MATTER"など、全編が極彩色の電子音で彩られています。複雑怪奇なリズム構成と、それとは対照的な人懐っこいメロディラインが織りなす万華鏡のような音響体験は、まさに本作だけの特権です。

もはや古典の域に達しながらも針を落とすたびに新たな発見がある、20年以上色褪せることのない未来のポップ・ミュージック。夢想的な世界観を視覚的にも表現した、特別なカラー・ヴァイナル仕様による待望のリプレスです。

フラッフィー・リトル・クラウド・カラー・ヴァイナル仕様リプレス限定盤。

Sweet Trip's second full-length, Velocity : Design : Comfort, is an intoxicating blend of indie pop melody, shoegaze-style sonic overload, and electronic drum'n'bliss. A dense and sprawling record, each song is layered with skittering, glitchy drumbeats, distorted and broken sounding synths, hazy shoegaze guitars, and the blissful vocals of Valerie Reyes. Main Sweet Tripper Roberto Burgos has crafted a record that is overflowing with small details and sonic surprises that make each song a delight and add up to push the record into minor classic status. It may sound like empty hyperbole or press pack tomfoolery, but at its best, Sweet Trip truly sounds like what one might assume Kevin Shields would sound like today if he could ever manage to get his act together. Their sound is woozy, dreamy, deeply emotional, and extremely unpredictable. Songs like the epic "Velocity" or "International" are so packed to the brim with sound and adventure that every listen will leave you shaking your head at the sheer beauty and sonic achievement involved. Some of the other tracks that will have you jumping up and down with happiness are the glitchy "Dsco," a track New Order in its prime would have killed for, pulsating with overdriven synths and Burgos and Reyes' angelic vocals, "Dedication," a careening blast of noisy drums and breathtaking melody, and the simply stunning "To All the Dancers in the World, a Round Form of Fantasy," which stretches sound in all sorts of wonderful ways and is actually the most MBV-sounding track on the album. Most likely this record will disappear from view without a trace, but it really shouldn't. It should be at the forefront of the charge being led by bands like Manitoba, Four Tet, and Dntel, which make very forward-thinking records that confound expectations and don't leave the past (i.e., melody and songcraft) behind. Simply put, Velocity : Design : Comfort is one of the most interesting and best records of 2003; you really should check it out. ~ Tim Sendra