The Mystic Caves - The Mystic Caves
I’ve always wondered if people would care for chiptune electronica had it not been popularised through video games and early-day audio hardware limitations in the 80’s/90’s. If the genre appear naturally in the music scene as a respectful medium of art, would it catch on? The Mystic Caves’ debut is another chiptune inspired funk electronica record produced in 2013, the same year as The Flight Away’s Sega Swing. Unlike Sega Swing, which focused on updating the synth aesthetic to modern pop-rock, The Mystic Caves instead steered more into the classical prog rock direction, to an impressive extent.
The album clocks in under 20 minutes, though there’s not a single wasted moment outside of ;_;>. Each song is distinct and avoids repetition. Aside from some of the drum patterns, most of the album sounds lively transcribed as opposed to copy pasted. Elements of funk are present through tracks such as No Half Measures! and Left or Right, giving them plenty of life. There are also plenty of creative moments that utilise abrasion to a delightful effect, such as the immaculate drums that kick in halfway through Into The Morning or the opening section of It’s Hardly Fatal. Suffice to say, the album completely nails its compositions, if only the aesthetic was more inspiring.
In all honesty, I believe chiptune could have easily flourished without its reliance on nostalgia and retro-gaming aesthetics; it’s incredibly expressive and thoroughly enjoyable. Nonetheless, it’s difficult to separate its sound from a time period, much the same way modern disco can eat a bag of dicks. The Mystic Caves demonstrates there’s still plenty of life in the genre, though with plenty of limitations. Had the artist blended in some noise or acoustic elements, it could have easily sounded fresh, though the overall aesthetic is quite plain. Nonetheless, the compositions themselves are very creative and expressive; very enjoyable indeed. It’s not an album I’ll return to frequently, but one I very much enjoyed all the way through.
Above Average
Listen to it here:
The Mystic Caves - The Mystic Caves
