Search - Brad Pounders :: She Shakes

Analog heaven

03/23/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Brad Pounders, the 29 year old Memphisian and backbone of the now defunct synth-junkie group/ smells like recording artists, the clears, has spent the last two years developing his next wave constructions in the seclusion of his home studio, playing all tracks using a sordid array of analog and digital toys (from casios to korgs to computers, an r-8 reel to reel recorder, a haunted piano and a guitar named sugar) while constantly struggling to devise new and more effective methods towards the elimination of having any need for a band and close friends, hence eliminating any problems that there arise. Though his music has been called the ''new'' new wave, brad's personal approach is more along the lines of picking up where the true innovation of the new wave movement left off. We know from the past that music technology started developing at breakneck speeds, and because of this aggressive development, the very best of synthesized sounds, hardware, and song writing were washed away by whatever new gizmos were coming down the pipe at the time. The results were watered down shadows of a previously pure sound. Thus came the ugly onslaught of hit-radio-station-dance tracks for the masses, totally awash with bad loops, samples and hyper-sequenced junk. The technology and the sound, in their earliest original incarnations, were not allowed to properly develop. Basically, the machine began to run the man. With the homemade ethos and honesty of she shakes, his solo debut CD on Bulb/Larson Records, brad ventures to reign in control over the machine, combining the lessons of the past with the promise of the future by bringing simple technology, style, intelligence and songwriter sensibilities back into musical focus"