Though it has been uncharitably accused of being little more than an instrumental Suicide LP that Vega couldn’t be bothered to come up with any vocals for, Martin Rev in fact put hell of a lot of effort into the tracks on his solo debut, giving them atonal depth and melodic sensibility that feels like a natural and wonderful progression from the primitivism of the first Suicide album, fitting in neatly before the woozy disco-damaged weirdness of their 2nd LP took hold.

Opener ‘Mari’ in particular stands out as a real feather in Rev’s cap as an electronic composer - a toweringly optimistic masterwork of minimal synth beauty, like a ray of light shining across Manhattan’s skyscrapers, bold super-hero sky-gazing with a melody disarming enough to melt perma-shaded hearts all along 42nd St.

Attempts to mimic Vega’s vocal style on the following ‘Baby Oh Baby’ are something of a misstep, but the track itself is still a fine precursor of the kind of street-walkin’ psychedelic stew Rev cooked up for that aforementioned 2nd LP, laser blast wave patterns ebbing and flowing giddily whilst a ‘Ghost-Rider’ worthy bass riff lurks in the background, ready to slay all.

The whole LP in fact is a similarly perfect match of punk-ass lo-fi technique and single-minded composer-ly precision. Whilst the sounds themselves are often wild and alien, when it comes to writing, Rev proves a no nonsense populist, working with rhythms and melodies that are simple, strong and unashamed, refuting the avant-abstraction that normally went hand-in-hand with this sort of electronic experimentation back in the day. Simply put, the best moments here could go toe to toe with anything John Carpenter produced in the minimal synth stakes, and come out on top with slinky, gooey, kaleidoscopic atmosphere to spare.

That said, it does all get rather oppressively hypnotic in places, employing dense ultra-repetitive masses of squiggles comparable to Astral Social Club, but nonetheless, Marty stays faithfully at the controls, and by the time we get to ‘Asia’s sublime scrape-along-the-marimba perma-echo kick, the tension of a looming back alley knife fight seems to have merged wholesale into the kind of mystic beautification being practiced by Reich, LaMonte Young and the rest of that gang up-town.

Like most Rev solo endeavours, this LP effortlessly surpasses the anticipated limitations of a dude playing two finger organ riffs over a ‘robot marching bad’ drum machine to emerge as a unique, multi-faceted and engrossing recording – a great album and a legit trip for close headphone scrutiny.

Post-script # 1: When I began writing this I was under the impression Superior Viaduct’s reissue dated from 2016, but turns out they actually put it out years ago as one of their first releases. Well, what the hell – I bought it in 2016, so what do you want me to do – change my list, dump this post and NOT tell you how much I like it? Pfff….

Post-script # 2: Until reading the sleeve notes for this reissue, I never knew that Martin Rev’s full name is ‘Martin Reverbi’. Can you believe he shortened it for his music career…!? Go figure.

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Now sold out from Superior Viaduct, so best check Discogs and/or yr local dealer.

Labels: best of 2016, comps & reissues, Martin Rev, Suicide