Waveforms By Liam Boyle

Waveforms

By

Liam Boyle

Written by

Steve Sheppard

This latest journey about to be taken, Waveforms by Liam Boyle, is the epitome of everything good and great in the genre of electronic music in the 21^st century, its fluency and quality of production is smooth and quite breathtakingly classy. Boyle has produced something here that is incredibly listenable and has given me the opportunity to write a somewhat different style of review, as each composition is entitled Waveforms 1 through to 10.

The speed and texture of the opening piece to this album is simply addictive to listen to and draws you in with a simple flick of the switch, for me it was like being drawn literally into the machine.

The character of this album stands tall and each and every composition has its own resonance, one of my personal favourites was the second arrangement off the album, for me it reminded me at times of a mix of both Vangelis in his early years and AD music recording artist Ashok Prema, the mysterious energy added to the mix made this piece a total winner for me.

Sometimes people ask me how many times do I listen to an album before writing about it, the honest answer is at least two times, I want to and like to, get a feel for the music, allow it to become part of me for the duration. This album, well I’m now on my 4^th listen, and each time I do so I love it more and more, track 3 is sublime for my interest in smooth, slow, and reflective electronic material, and probably my favourite off the album.

The keyboards and synths on this entire album are masterfully played by Boyle, he is clearly a man who not only knows his stuff, but allows his musical muse to create through his own personal Waveform, and a fine example is track 4, a piece that at times almost takes me back to the great years of Tomita with the symphonic gestures and moods.

I remember going to the Tate Modern in London, I do enjoy modern art and this entire album would be a perfect accompaniment for a walking around the gallery experience, track 5 especially, the vibe here and percussive sounds are fascinatingly tranquil yet vibrant at the same time. However an arrangement of a different colour can be found in the more galactic elements of track 6, and even offers up something of a regal energy at times, perhaps even a little Blade Runner in their as too.

This is my 4^th complete listen and I cannot believe just how quick this experience has gone, each track is beautifully played and produced, the build and structure of each arrangement is utterly sublime to behold, with the ambient floating nature of track 7, to the dark halls of what I like to call the albums power piece of track 8, the tone and intent here is incredibly electrifying.

The penultimate composition has a constant driving force of a musical narrative about its construct, one could imagine with ease, cruising around some alien world in a land buggy to this one, and perhaps the composition and its classy performance on synths by Boyle, could even be used in a sci-fi movie.

The last portal to this exciting new album Waveforms by Liam Boyle contains vibrations of mystery and imagination and was another absolute favourite of mine, its powerful arrangement gave me that same tingle of excitement I had when I first heard the theme to Assault on Precinct 13 by the great John Carpenter.

Waveforms by Liam Boyle is an electronic music album of sublime class and production, each track literally lures you in so deep, that the only way out is listening to the entire album note by note until its conclusion. From start to finish Waveforms keeps you hooked and wanting more, it aids you on your exploration of tone and vibrancy, and has to be the best of its genre I have heard this year, how can I not recommend something as good as this.