For “Synthuzzah!”, the second release from the Minnesota-based Tool Factory Project, the focus has shifted from satirical pop songs and traditional rock idioms to Renaissance and Classical music, realizing the music of Holborne, Gabrieli, Morley and others with a variety of hardware electronic instruments and “soft-synth” emulations of classic synthesizers. The sonic palette is reminiscent of Carlos’ “Switched-On Bach”, emphasizing precision of timbre and dynamics over gimmicky bloops, bleeps, and filter sweeps, the end result being an album that is complex in tonality, yet tuneful and euphonious, in the true spirit of the source material. Fans of Early Music may well find this recording an excellent introduction to electronic instruments; likewise, afficionados of electronic music will find a satisfying vacation from extreme sounds, noise music, and dance grooves. As an added bonus (and a preview to a planned future release), “Synthuzzah!” includes an electronic version of all five movements of Mozart’s Divertimento #2 for three basset horns.
The Tool Factory Project have been writing, experimenting, and recording at the Secret Underground Laboratory in Minnesota for over two decades, and have produced (and are producing!) a prodigious and eclectic body of work including satirical pop, traditional rock, avant garde electronic composition, and Renaissance solo lute music. Other releases from the masterminds at the Secret Underground Laboratory include:
Rock and Pop:
The Tool Factory Project: “The Tool Factory Project”
Richard Griffith: “Take the Stairs”
Electronic Music:
The Subterranean Philharmonic Orchestra: “The Disorienting Appeal of Shiny New Things”
Richard Griffith: “Sometimes I Draw Robots”
Renaissance Lute Music:
Richard Griffith: “Bonny Sweete Boy”
Richard Griffith: “A Renaissance Portrait”
Richard Griffith: “The Prince’s Masque”
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