Search - Freescha :: Head Warlock Double Stare

A psychedelic soundtrack of blissed out porportions.

bowery boy | seattle | 10/25/2006

(5 out of 5 stars)

"This plays like a lost water logged 8 track soundtrack to a 70's sci-fi movie that has been warped, mangled, processed through filters and then slowed down and sped up with random beats skipping out of time. That's not a bad thing. It takes awhile to grow on you but when it does, it's some of the most dreamy, ethereal, haunting and danceable music to grace your ears. If you're a fan of Freescha or if you loved Whats Come Inside You, don't hesitate to rush out now and buy this disc. It's a bit darker than WCIY at first listen and the pornographic moans and groans of WCIY are (thankfully) gone but Freescha still manages to give us what we expect from them.



Head Warlock Double Stare does indeed play like a soundtrack, even the inside CD casing looks like a movie poster. It has an image of an A Clockwork Orange looking guy tearing through the paper with the caption "Creaming is just the beginning . . ." underneath, whatever that means, and the liner notes are setup like the credit information you would see at the bottom of a movie poster. As with a soundtrack, some songs are disappointingly short like the dreamy goosebump inducing 43 seconds long Secret Admirer. It's as if someone gave you a delicious ice cream cone and then yanked it away after your first lick. However, where that song disappoints in its length others are fulfilling and hits the spot. Galacticus grooves along with gorgeous melodies, a fat warped beat and indiscernible background vocals. Humping For Dummies has heavy dance beats and Freescha's trademark ambiguous vocoder vocals. And is he saying "You are so down for me ... you are so cool ... you got the moves baby ... I got the tools"? Who knows, but its great stuff. Moving has a similar feel to Boogy Foot from Slower Than Church Music, starts off slow and mellow and then BAM! a great crunchy beat kicks in that's so random and unexpected but totally cool. Shiver Me Timbers crunches and squishes along with an eerily beautiful melody. The things these guys do with manipulating sound is amazing. Each track on Head Warlock Double Stare flows beautifully and flawlessly into the next creating a conceptually cohesive listen from beginning to end



If you're new to Freescha and don't know what I'm referring to then shame on you! You need to get out and buy some Freescha now. They are one the most consistently brilliant, talented hidden gems of electronica. Don't fall for the Boards of Canada comparisons though. With the exception of the Lift EP, their first release, nothing else of theirs sounds remotely like BoC. However, their music is totally blissed out and has the ability to evoke weird and lost childhood memories like BoC but the comparisons should end there. Freescha stand on their own.



If you are a Freescha fan, Head Warlock Double Stare will have you pulling out your other Freescha discs and having a Freescha-fest. This by far is the best release I have bought all year.

"

Half-broken music box from outer space

Mason Inman | Cambridge, MA | 06/16/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"With warbling synths and drums that somehow skip beats and hit extra ones, but without messing with the rhythm, Freescha's new album sounds like tunes from a half-functioning outer-space music box that astronauts have recovered, which originally captured listeners in a trance so powerful they couldn't escape and their civilization crumbled. Or something like that.



Highly recommended for those who want ambient music with a beat, but something out of the ordinary, hackneyed vein of lounge-y tunes. I still prefer Freescha's "What's Come Inside of You" (2003), which is one of my all-time favorite electronic albums. "Come Inside" has memorable songs, whereas on "Head Warlock," the tracks all blur together."