Jonas Reinhardt – Powers of Audition
 
1. Mumma Deed Family Clone
2. Atomic Bomb Living
3. Orbiter Dicta
4. Only You Can Achieve Nitrogen
5. Near A Mirrored Pit Viper
6. Powers of Audition
7. Wastrel Eyelid
 
Jonas Reinhardt may or may not come from San Francisco, California and may or may not have graduated from the Harvard Electronic Music Centre where he studied music synthesis, whatever that is. Is it a man or a band? Or is it both? This review will assume it is a man. Probably.
 
On ‘Powers of Audition’, as with his previous releases, Reinhardt plays analogue synthesisers, teasing out swooping electronic sounds and mechanical arpeggios to construct his compositions. It all sounds very colourful, and clearly takes a lot of inspiration from krautrock and the hip European art aesthetic. The thing is, it’s unclear whether Reinhardt’s music is outdated or not. The synth typifies a specific period of music and characterised it by sounding ‘futuristic’. However the future has arrived, and despite the definite edginess of Reinhardt’s music which can encompass jazz and ambient textures, the overarching feeling to someone not especially moved by the unnatural and abrasive oscillations of synth effects is that ‘Powers of Audition’ is an anachronism. That said, tracks like ‘Only You Can Achieve Nitrogen’ and ‘Near A Mirrored Pit Viper’ exhibit more interesting and worthwhile textures which show the synth to be relevant in a modern context far more than the plain old synth-rock of say, ‘Mumma Deed Family Clone’.
 
‘Powers of Audition’ is one for the synth fanatic, or the Tangerine Dream fan. Make of that what you will.
 
Review by Liam McLaughlin
Powers of Audition will be released on March 16th on Kranky.