Genre: Synthpop

01 Nevada's Greatest Man
02 Two Complaints
03 Better
04 Just a Thimble More
05 The Pioneers
06 The Circles
07 The Wastes
08 Motorcar
09 Center of the Solar System
10 I Feel Sick
11 Stakes

I really have to learn to not judge an album by its cover. For the longest time now I have put off reviewing this album because of two things: a.) The main sentence on the promo slip says "The Best Pop Record Ever". For an underground webzine, seeing the phrase "best pop record" can be a nightmare, if not nearly traumatizing. One always forgets that there are different styles of pop music though, and not all of them are something you'll hear on MTV. b.) The front cover. To me it resembles something a hardcore band would put out. I'm not sure why the album cover came off to me this way, but I know i've seen a number of odd covered hardcore albums since starting here and they've all had a similarity to this one. However, despite these two reasons, I am an idiot. The Qualia's debut, "Nevada's Greatest!" was actually a fairly interesting and mellow trip through a strange style of synthpop.

As the name suggests, the album has an oddly "Western" appeal to the sound. Not Western as in country-based, but as in cowboy western. Solo artist Lars Casteen began his music career in the EBM / Industrial scene. After a few low budget demo releases, he decided to take a direction towards more overall soundwriting while still keeping his synth-esque roots incorporated into the music, which has created a very new sound. Its probably the nearest that you can come to true pop music while still having a dancey atmosphere. I applaud this greatly because thruthfully I felt EBM had long overstayed its welcome and didn't have many more places to go with its music in a tasteful manner. The only two bands to impress me in the last year or so with this sound were in fact The Qualia and Psyclon 9, both being on very opposite ends of the genre.

For those not familiar with what a qualia is (as I know I had never previously heard the term until receiving this release), wikipedia states: "Qualia" (IPA: [ˈkwɑːliə]) is "an unfamiliar term for something that could not be more familiar to each of us: the ways things seem to us"[1]. They can be defined as qualities or feelings, like redness or pain, as considered independently of their effects on behavior and from whatever physical circumstances give rise to them. In more philosophical terms, qualia are properties of sensory experiences.

Whether qualia exist is a hotly debated topic in contemporary philosophy of mind. The importance of qualia in philosophy of mind comes largely from the fact that they are often seen as being a possible refutation of physicalism. Much of the debate over their existence, however, hinges on the debate over the precise definition of the term, as various philosophers emphasize or deny the existence of certain properties."

A very interesting philosophy indeed, and it does suit the ethereal atmosphere that is created within. It also needs to be said that nearly every song on this album is a radio hit waiting to happen. There isn't a song that isn't incredibly catchy and unique in its own way. The lyrics and thought structures are all inventive as well as the overall atmosphere that Lars seeks. Even the album artwork, as previously mentioned, is a tribute to Lars' creative genius. So I guess the slogan on the press sheet was true..."Greatest Pop Album Ever" would probably indeed be a fact for many underground journalists considering its the only side of pop we can stand, and it has taken synthpop into an entirely different level. For lovers of VNV Nation and the like, if you're looking for something a bit more laid back with a new style of atmosphere, give this one a shot.