PAINT

PAINT has always been a respite for Pedrum Siadatian’s more offbeat pop visions. Those that quite didn’t fit the laconic curl of Allah-las were given life under the project’s banner, but on his latest record he drifts even further from PAINT’s own past. There was still a pretty strong tether to Pedrum’s pop instincts on Spiritual Vegas, and its eponymous predecessor. Diversions into Eastern rhythms and drifting textures cropped up, but at their hearts, those records were still rooted in more traditional songs. On Loss For Words, Siadatian unties the tethers and drifts far into the kosmiche clouds, embracing a healthy dose of dub along the way. A newly purchased Boss DR-5 rhythm composer provided inspiration for the shift, coupled with time spent deep in a personal journey through the ethos of Eno and Fripp that found him enamored with their Frippertronics tape experiments.

The resulting record pulses with a rattle-trap rhythm, crunching along with plastic propulsion. Above the burble, Pedrum douses the listener in gossamer tones (“Paris 2020”) and thick, acrid, plumes of sonic smoke awash in fuzz and froth (“Laffy Taffy (Pardón)”). The album is sewn through celluloid seams, slaloming through a cascade of collaged images over its course. While the German Progressives remain an admitted touchstone (Cluster, Plank) the record inadvertently wanders into similar realms as other acolytes, feeling like it might make good bedfellows with Boards of Canada in its mellower moments, or among the haunted and humid visions of the Ghost Box stable. The record marks a shift for PAINT, a chameleonic change that Siadatian pulls off nicely. Here’s hoping he crawls further into this cavern as time wears on.

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