Cosmicity - Escape Pod For Two Limited 2 CD Edition

Disc One

Sedgwick
Departure
Escape Pod For Two
In-Flight
Abort
Regenerate
Drops And Splotches
Tinnitus
Vast
Oxygenius
Future Song

Disc Two

Sedgwick (Syrian Remix)
Departure (Raindancer Remix)
Escape Pod For Two (DJ Ginger Snapp Remix)
In-Flight (Cloudless Mix)
Abort (System 22 Remix)
Regenerate (B! Machine Remix)
Tinnitus (T.O.Y. Remix)
Vast (Instrumental)
Oxygenius (Assemblage 23 Remix)
The Dreamer (Club Mix)
This Is Your Crappy Christmas Present

The debate rages on, but this has been announced as the final Cosmicity album (of all-new songs, that is (who knows, a best-of cd could still be in the future)). This is a first as well as a last for Cosmicity, as the album is a concept album, dealing with New Love, confidence and the beginning of the journey of life together, with a twist of sci-fi thrown in for flavor. On thing I really liked about the detailed liner notes was the nod to Douglas Adams.. his Hitchhiker's Guide radio show is a set of Cd's my wife and I travel with all the time. (Yes, I actually bought the BBC radio show on CD and imported it from the UK). And that 42 in the title didn't get by me either.. :)

Anyway, back on subject: Mark writes in the liner notes that he was striving to surpass all his previous albums with this final one. I wrote a while back I didn't think he'd ever be able to top "Pure". Boy, was I wrong. In my opinion, Mark has easily accomplished what he set out to do. Even the one track that seems the most capable of falling flat, the title track, treads along carefully to yield a pleasing result.

"Sedgwick" was a club-friendly track I found appealing enough to start off my slothradio set with (www.slothradio.com), and I still think that it's a extraordinarily strong, clubby pop song. But then again, so is "Abort".. and "In-Flight"... and "Tinnitus"..... and "Oxygenius". In fact, this album is packed with some really awesome dance fodder. All that aside, that's not to say this is a dance album at all. The ballads are all quality tracks as well, with none of them coming off as filler.

As I mentioned in my review of "Synthpop Club Anthems 2", I still really like the self-referential part of "Tinnitus" with small lyrical references to past songs, just like I loved Anything Box's "An Ending 2" on Elektrodelica. Also, you can probably tell from past writings that I'm a bit of a sucker for a well-put together concept album. Probably a little too forgiving when the overall concept works and perhaps the music doesn't work as well, actually. But I'm happy to say that even putting my bias aside, this really is a stand-out album and work.

The limited edition (not sure how limited it is, exactly) of this album comes with a bonus remix/b-sides disc, including remixers that are somewhat more well known as well as some lesser known names. There are some (relatively) big names here, such as Assemblage 23 and T.O.Y. (Icon Of Coil's remix was on the "In-Flight" single), as well as some lesser-known remixers such as Raindancer, and Syrian. Also DJ Introvert contributes a remix, as well as System 22 and B! Machine. So just about everyone will be able to find a remix to their liking, I think, with that wide a field of mixers. Also included here is a new (Cosmicity-produced) mix of the track that was previously exclusive to the "Electricity 2" compilation, "The Dreamer", as well as a more polished version of Mark's mp3 Christmas present to the fans from a year or so ago.

I think this is a release that I could easily buy several copies of and give to friends.. and that they'd like it, just about regardless of what music style they like. One that the tiny synthpop community can wave to the world and say "Hey! This is great music that you should pay attention to!!!".

Added:  Thursday, January 22, 2004
Reviewer:  Jason Baker
Score:
Related web link:  Official Website
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Language: eng