Standard CD album, GoGo Penguin 'A Humdrum Star' Different worlds have always collided, vividly, in the sound of GoGo Penguin. The Manchester-based trio conjure richly atmospheric music that draws from their shared love of electronica, their grounding in classical conservatoires and jazz ensembles alongside indie bands, and a merging of acoustic and electronic techniques. Their latest album, A Humdrum Star, builds on the heady momentum of its acclaimed predecessors, the Mercury Prize-nominated V2.0 (2014) and Man Made Object (2016, marking their move to the legendary Blue Note Records), and transports it to new realms. Their latest material reveals both native turf and far-flung influences. They evoke the symbiotic flow between Nick, pianist Chris Illingworth, and drummer Rob Turner, as well as their seasoned relationship with producer and sound engineer Joe Reiser (credited as the “fourth member” of GGP, both on tour and in the studio) and co-producer Brendan Williams. As with previous albums, these tracks stemmed from a love of electronic music, whether collectively developed from “sketches” written by Rob on DJ/producer tech including Logic and Ableton, or composed on the bass or at the piano. That electro-acoustic tension pulses throughout the new album, from the beautifully brooding piano melody and dissonance that makes opener Prayer so soulful yet unsettling, to the stirring, house-y reverb that gives way to Rob’s propulsive beats on Bardo.
I**O
Superb sound quality, transparent, detailed, excellent bass and piano sound recording
A superb recording, transparent and detailed, very clear and revealing. Some may find the sound a little cold and clinical. The clarity and detail of the bass is exemplary.I have not set out to write reviews of the music content as “beauty is in the ears of the listener”. These reviews are about the quality (or not) of the recorded sound. To read about how the reviews are done please see my profile. • Clarity – excellent, no softness or muddiness • Channel separation – excellent, very distinct channels • Channel balance – excellent, very clear clear channel separation combined with excellent balance delivers very good instrument placement and definition • Sound Stage – excellent, wide and broad, superb instrument placement. The clarity of the sound stage makes it feel as if the musicians are in the room • Distortion – non audible • Compression – excellent frequency range, highs and lows do not sound limited • Atmosphere – superb, sounds as if the piano and other instruments are in the room. Can feel slightly cool and analytical which may not be too everyone's taste • Bass – low frequencies – very good, defined, detailed and tight. Tremendous double bass sound. Drums are very good and realistic • Treble – high frequencies – the piano is superb but again some may find the sound a little cold and clinical. The only downside is that the cymbals lack “shimmer” on occasion, but this is often rapidly corrected • Vocals – non audibleAs a general rule of thumb recordings from the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s are nearly always better on the original vinyl. Remasters often fail to please as it’s just not possible to make a silk purse from a sows ear, i.e. the original recording lacks the necessary detail to be processed digitally and show an audible improvement. Indeed such processing can make the sound worse.Modern recordings which have been processed digitally from start to finish can be as good as vinyl. CD’s are often unfairly criticised for being poor quality. This is not the case, it is the original recording or the process which is to blame. Modern “remasters” can both enhance and degrade a recording. The statement GIGO (Garbage In Garbage Out) is the limiting factor. Ignore this at your cost.
C**B
Driving and Unusual "Jazz" makes an awesome album
This is an awesome album. It's hard to define what the music is exactly. I guess it is jazz, but it seems to have lots of rock, dance and electronica influences too.It is a real test for a hifi system and it better have good bass control and definition, else the throbbing double bass notes will bloom and wallow, overwhelming the rest of the mix.The rhythm is driven by that double bass and the percussion, while piano ripples across the soundstage. It may not be for everyone, and it certainly isn't mainstream, but it is different and I like it a lot.Spun on a good record player, it sounds amazing, with the airiness and scratching of strings coming over like the band is in the room. My Rega RP10 easily distinguishes between a lifeless, compressed recording and one where the full dynamics have been optimised for vinyl. Dynamics here are very impressive, bouncing from deep throbbing bass to crashing percussion and that piano.Good musicianship, good recording and mastering and good vinyl pressing!Well worth a listen IMHO.The red vinyl looks nice and mine has good pressing quality with low surface noise and a largely silent background.
M**D
GoGo Penguin (Humdrum Star)
For their second recording for Blue Note (their fourth release) the trio from Manchester GoGo Penguin return with another heady sound-scape which very pleasingly mixes various genres and influences together ranging from Brian Eno, Massive Attack and on this release GGP credit influence from the likes of Ryuichi Sakamoto and Can these elements are put together to form GGP’s own brand of music a mix of Classical sounding keyboards with a Jazz rhythm section to my ears.The cascading piano sound played by Chris Illingworth is at the forefront of the tracks with the percussive elements played by Rob Turner ably supported by the bass playing of Nick Blacka, the sound on this album does also owe a lot to Philip Glass especially the track Reactor which could have quite easily come from the Glass composed soundtrack Koyaanisqatsi from 1983.I found this to be an excellent audio experience challengingly testing both the equipment it’s played on and the listener, highly recommended.
M**L
Labelling GGP is impossible, this isn't jazz as you know it, and its anything but humdrum ...
The Manchester trio GoGo Penguin have done it again with another superb album.Piano-led but with strong support from the rhythm section of drums and bass GoGo Penguin can usually be found in the jazz department, but this isn't jazz like you've heard it before because labelling GoGo Penguin is impossible. Like their previous releases, A Humdrum Star is a genre-defying soundscape that covers all the bases; it is jazz but it is also rock, and ambient, and new age, and electronica, and even classical, and simultaneously all of the above and more in a turbulent mix that relaxes or challenges depending on your mood. But whatever your mood, immerse yourself in the GoGo Penguin experience because this is anything but humdrum.
D**N
Good but not great
This is a good album and I'd definitely recomend giving it a listen. The musicianship is fantastic and the sound recording is top quality. Parts of this album are very good an musically interesting, but some of the tracks are just slightly too repetive, and the ambient house simple piano lines overdone at points. Ultimately for me there's not enough variation between the tracks to get a lot of replay, but if I would listen to two or three tracks at a time. It is very similar to their other albums in style and tone.
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