Artist: Farfetch’d
Album: The Alchemist
Label: Independent
Mixed and Mastered by: Akash Murthy for T.I.L.T. Studios
Release Date: 6th April, 2013
In this era where everyone supposedly “worships” the Metal genre (they can actually file for it to be an official religion, I’m sure the religion can be considered as a minority in the parliament), it’s refreshing to find people going out of the box to do something different. And standing out among these “religiously sentimental” people, we have Farfetch’d – A two man Ambient Post Rock project of Akash Murthy and Kasisnu from Namma Bangalore. Ambient Rock has always been one of my favourite genres, along with Trance and Psychedelic Rock, and in our country; none of the three genres have a respectable following or a decent number of musicians as compared to other genres.
The album is a treat for anyone who enjoys Post Rock or Progressive Rock. Tender guitar works, amazing keyboards and pretty realistic programmed drums all throughout the album makes it stand out. The thing about most instrumental albums is after a certain time, it gets repetitive. But that doesn’t happen here. All the tracks have been composed to God level perfection. Tracks like Inert, The Alchemist and God is an Atheist have amazing mood changes within the song. The ambience and the keys get you high even without any external substance. Sort of reminds me of this French Ambient Post Rock band – Alcest. A similar approach to music and very similar effect it leaves on the listener. The two tracks – This Insignificant Little Thing and Anomaly 2 have this distinctive sound which would make you fall in love with them from the first time you hear the tracks. While This Insignificant Little Thing has more of a movie soundtrack feel, the djembe part in the middle along with a guitar feedback supporting it in the background is superb. And then some amazing guitar tone to carry forward the mood. Anomaly 2 on the other hand is a strange track. Nice psychedelic feel in the song, but the strangest part in the song is the outro. The song builds up noise as the song approaches the end and then all of a sudden fades away. And it is then followed by an Alternative Rock influenced intro of Anomaly 1.
The thing that really gets me about this album is the sheer simplicity. Classic copybook style Post Rock, served with the right amount of feeling and precise composition. The arrangements have been done with lots of care and a lot of thinking has gone into each song; which is clearly evident from the tracks. Excellent production and mixing of the tracks; Akash is certainly one of the most sort out sound engineer in recent times, and he certainly knows his job very well. This album teamed up with some trippy visualization on iTunes is a sure shot way to get you high. Trust me, I’ve tried it.
My top three from the album –
- This Insignificant Little Thing
- Volatile
- God is an Atheist
Support Farfetch’d and buy the album here – Farfetch’d on Bandcamp
Farfetch’d The Alchemist Demo
