Search - Scala :: Compass Heart

ELECTRO ETHEREAL BEATS FROM OTHER WORLDS

fredofla | LOS ANGELES, CA. USA | 11/14/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"...and this final album by Mark Van Hoen's brillant band, Scala, continues to redefine the possibilites of avant-garde pop music.
Much like the later Locust albums, Compass Heart reaches deep into the well of its imagination to deliver one exuberant final phase of this wildly creative dream-beat science. Sarah Peacock's heavenly vocals reign supreme, once again; and don't believe anyone who says that Seefeel was ever any better than this (because they were not.) Indeed, Scala is the perfect logical extension of those earlier ambient Seefeel albums, but this time concocted into a deliciously brazen brew of pop songwriting confections. Try Compass Heart with a set of good headphones, and you'll understand right aways why Scala remains the absolute electro-Led Zeppelin of the 1990's. This is soaring, wonderful electro-pop music at its edgiest and finest. As with all of the Scala albums, this one gets my HIGHEST RECOMMENDATION."

From here to nowhere

fredofla | 03/03/2000

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Scala's third longplay album (after "Beauty nowhere" and "To you in alpha") finds the band in a holding pattern. While the music certainly sounds interesting, I wasn't quite satisfied with all these three albums. In the rocky and loud tracks, Scala draw too much from outdated noise-rock á la My Bloody Valentine, while the more pop-oriented songs are somehow boring and lengthy. And the ambient tracks aren't as intense as the sonic landscapes of Seefeel albums like "Ch-Vox" and "Quique". Scala's most worthwhile purchase is "Beauty nowhere", showing the entire musical range of this band and featuring a techno-rock cover version of Blondie's "Heart of glass". Nevertheless, I recommend all these three albums for fans, but compared with Seefeel's pioneering output, Scala's ouevre is rather disappointing."