Title: 28 Days With The OP-1
Artist: Professor Kliq
Release Date: 2015 March 01
Genre: Electronic / Funk
License: CC BY-NC-SA
Label: Self-Release / BandCamp
Introduction
Professor Kliq: 28 Days With The OP-1 made me a bit nervous when I saw it’s release. I’ve listened to many releases that were experiments with specific instruments, and many of them were either complete failures or nothing special. A great example of such an experiment: Todd Rundgren’s “A Capella”. So how does this Professor Kliq release fare? Read on….
Professor Kliq: 28 Days With The OP-1
There are a few things about a project like this that I know appeals to an artist. First, there is a chance to learn something new: a new instrument, a new style, etc. Second, there is the challenge of adapting to the instrument. Third there is a chance to explore, open yourself up to unknown ideas and concepts.
The problem with this idea is that you may find that the audience won’t follow you, or worse you might alienate part of your listeners. Many times projects like this are relegated to the “experimental” column, and kind of left in the background for only the most hardcore fans, or other musicians and artistic types.
Then we have what Mike Else (aka Professor Kliq) does with this type of experiment: he returns to his roots, and expands his ideas in new, and quite exciting directions.
I have to admit, while I really liked The Teragraph EP, I did feel like it was a departure in terms of style that I thought many people in his audience wouldn’t follow all that well. It was much more smooth and jazzy with lots of subtle colorations. Not the kind of thing that fans of “Bust This Bust That” or “Wires and Flashing Lights” would take to.
But 28 Days is not the departure that Teragraph was. With tracks like “100 Years,” “Command Line” and “Space Pace Ace” the powerhouse funk is definitely on tap. And tracks like “Sip Drink,” “The Ballroom” and “Select” will appeal to fans of of The Scientific Method, Volume II.
And while this might be considered something of a return to his former style(s) of music writing and production, this release does have some new elements in it. Like on “100 Years” there’s lots of 8-bit style bleeps and bloops sequences. And on part of “Sip Drink” it becomes more of an IDM / Jungle style track for a few bars. It’s that kind of experimentation working it”s way into these tracks that makes this one of Professor Kliq’s most interesting releases for several years now.
Conclusion
I was concerned that this release being an “instrument experiment” was going to fall into the category of a “hard core fans” only type of release. However, Professor Kliq has produced a work that is anything but a typical experimental release. Instead, he’s gone back to his more funk-style roots, and worked on expanding on the ideas that came out in Scientific Method Vol. II, and Curriculum Vitae. And then he’s expanded into 8-bit, IDM and even a bit of Jungle style. Overall this is the most engaging Professor Kliq release of the last few years.
Professor Kliq: 28 Days With The OP-1
$5.00 USD (or more)
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