Robin Foster – Life is Elsewhere Review
It’s been awhile since I’ve reviewed post-rock on our site, and that doesn’t go without reason. I think solely focusing on post-rock undermined my love and passion for it…in fact, I went several months without listening to post-rock of any sort. I was a little upset about having to miss the Mogwai show this month, but being introduced to a whole new wave of great post-rock music makes it all better. Robin Foster is a post-rock artist hailing from France, who has facilitated my ‘resumption’ of reviewing said genre.
Life is Elsewhere was released last year, along with the release of the single, “Goodnight & God Bless.” Both have been very well received. It is a very ethereal album that conjures up images of fast-paced city nights and post-apocalypse. I suppose because it is borderline trance, packed with ambient and electronic influences. The titles sort of represent this as well, in my opinion–”Last Exit/Brest By Night” and “Blue Lights At Dusk” as a couple of examples. And while we’re on the topic of titles, there are a few pop cultural references on this album–”Down (by law)” in reference to the 1986 movie and “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” to the Philip K. Dick novel.
Although the majority of the album is blatantly post-rock, there are some vocals in this album (”Goodnight & God Bless” and “Down (by law)”), which to me, takes away the ‘post-rock’ feeling and makes it sound more like a pop rock song, since it does take most focus. Some post-rock bands that do have vocals in their songs (Gregor Samsa and Mogwai to name a few), but I think that the difference between Robin and these bands are the fact that he enunciates well. You can barely make out the mumbles of Mogwai, and the instrumentation is far too powering over the vocals in Gregor Samsa’s music, so that they essentially become part of the instrumentation. I don’t think this really such a flaw in the album as a whole, but it is one thing that stood out for me.
If you like pg.lost, The American Dollar, and God is an Astronaut, you probably will enjoy Life is Elsewhere for its ethereal dreaminess. It’s very electronic-based, with electronic percussions, airy synths, and melodic clean electric guitars. The melodies are mostly driven by the guitar, with lots of layered synths over. Often, the percussions are distorted, giving off a mechanical, post-apocalyptic feel. The weave of all layers proves how well the album is produced–it’s very intricate and well thought out.
Life is Elsewhere is an amazing post-rock album that stays true to post-rock themes, but adds its own umph, without coming off as too verbose or unoriginal. I look forward to Robin Foster’s upcoming album, which according to his MySpace, is coming out to be something “post dance rock.” Also interesting to note is that Robin interviewed Mogwai, which I’m looking forward to read when it gets up online. I’m definitely recommending Life is Elsewhere to post-rock fans who want to dig into an album that is still true to the genre, but adds its own voice. I think Robin Foster has a lot of success coming his way (he even has one of his songs, “Blue Lights At Dusk” featured in a 2008 Hugo Boss commercial–click here to see).
MP3s:
Robin Foster – Disco Ouessant
Robin Foster – Life Is Elsewhere
Robin Foster – Loop
