“Theory of Everything”: hip buzzwords in contemporary science, as they pertain to the grand project of legendary physicist Stephen Hawking.
“Theory of Everything” is also the first track on keychee’s fourth album All, which will be released on November 15.
keychee, a multidimensional entity of music and visual expression, hails from the cultural mecca of Berlin. There does seem something so utterly foreign about keychee, whose sounds can zoom off into a whole different planetary consciousness.
With “Theory of Everything,” one feels as though one were gliding through outer space. There is distortion, but just a few frayed edges, nothing violent.
Something resembling a voice arrives about 60% of the way through. However, there are no discernible lyrics, just heavily-electronic, trippy sounds that seem far removed from any human presence, contributing to an extraterrestrial feel.
[youtube kKwmRTxYjdI]Track 2, “Dark Matter,” is soothing in a slightly somber way.
With track 4, “Naked Singularity,” there appears a discernible voice, in the form of spoken commands from a rocket launch mission. Following the countdown to blastoff, there is a request to: “Enjoy this trip.”
One wonders what sort of trip: NASA? LSD? Some other, more esoteric state of psychological aberration?
Eventually some sort of chorus takes form. But it soon surrenders itself to an increasingly pulsating percussion.
Just as one gets in groove with the drum beats – out of nowhere the song goes hip hop! Then, just as abruptly, spoken words ensue: “Do me a fucking favor. Shut up. Listen, and learn.”
Sounds like an angry version of Timothy Leary’s infamous: “Turn on. Tune in. And Drop out.”
The tune “Infinity’s End” offers an utterly unconventional medley of hip hop, electronic, and acid rock.
[youtube Y9linBiGV6A]“Protostar” showcases a voice in the background – a soft, rather seductive voice at that. Perhaps the present reviewer is indulging an unenlightened bias against “instrumental music,” but there is some listener desire to hear more of this voice.
The song titles are quite intriguing, and one can only aimlessly speculate as to what lyrics would aptly complement the music. One also wonders about the educational, self-taught or otherwise, background of keychee; with songs such as – “Dark Matter,” “Andromeda,” “Protostar” – these are perhaps the most astronomical titles in the history of music.
If forced to comment on this album in five words: “Talent of a strange variety.”
All will be available through every digital outlet, including spotify, itunes, amazon mp3, emusic, etc. One can visit keychee, both its sonic and visual incarnations, at: www.keychee.de
Ray Cavanaugh – owleyesgatsby@yahoo.com
