TAKAMOVSKY: Sonic Counterpoint     CD  Etymtone

Opening up with a cover of J S Bach played out on an acoustic guitar, not only threw me; but also shows a distinct amount of bravery on the artist’s part.

Combining electronic elements with guitar appears to be the Takamovsky’s bread and butter so to speak; and generally, this works well.  ‘Ice’ shudders with the pitter-patter of machine head touches and ambient glides as he plucks the strings; but it all feels a trifle clumsy come track 3, ‘Sun’.  I thoroughly understand what he is trying to achieve; but this would have worked best without any acoustic interference, replacing the strings with further electronic elements.

It’s blatantly obvious there is talent in abundance here, but there is only a small window in which the combination of styles can work harmoniously; and Takamovsky crosses the line way too much for me to enjoy the album as a whole.

I have to compliment the exemplary glitch work and guitar playing as individual talents, but these simply don’t meld as a combining medium and he could have easily split this into two separate entities, as opposed to every track built in the same format.

That given, I do tip my hat to his obvious skills in musicianship and attention to detail where harmony and programming is concerned; and some of the music on here is genuinely beautiful, if not a tad misplaced.

7.5/10