Genre: Rhythmic Industrial / IDM
01 The Fine Line
02 Under the Skin
03 Slipping
04 Nerves
05 Collisions
06 Over
Skin Contact’s Kevin Breidenbach hails from Colorado and appears to be something of a prolific artist; in addition to making and recording music as SC he also does the same for his other outfit Fugue State, plus he has numerous side-projects, some defunct and some still ongoing, such as Krushed Opiates, Skin Receptor, Cogitate, and Someone Else’s Problem – and on top of that he has also found time to remix the work of others, notably The Mercy Cage, N.U.T.E., Cholostase and 3am. By all accounts he is also something of a nerd when it comes to electronic synthesis and sound design; he’s also the man behind The Synthgeek Pages website.
Of course, being prolific doesn’t necessarily equate with being good; in addition, as with all genres of music, there are certain formulae that help to define and shape that particular area of music – and that, of course, equally doesn’t necessarily equate with being no good. I have to admit though that I am finding it hard to write anything meaningful about this, but this isn’t because I don’t like this particular set of six instrumental songs, in fact quite the opposite– I think this is a good solid mid-tempo rhythmic industrial/IDM release; not earth-shattering by any means but certainly not bad either. Kevin Breidenbach possesses a well-developed sense of rhythm and has infused each song with some catchy melodic hooks, backed by a strong stock of bass-lines; plus he hasn’t overloaded every piece with voice samples, being judicious in their use, and this has helped to mark it out and elevate it into the strata of the extremely listenable. Furthermore all the elements gel together exceptionally well: Breidenbach appears to be one of those musicians who possesses an intuitive ability to write songs, plus it all flows naturally and logically.
I am going to take a stab at some of the influences at play here; VNV Nation (especially that first title track) and bands of similar ilk, Autechre, Frontline Assembly and Skinny Puppy maybe. Of course it goes without saying that I may be completely out of the solar system on those, but certainly to my ears there were faint hints in there of these outfits. Tracks I particularly enjoyed were that aforementioned first track, and the two follow-on songs, ‘Under the Skin’ and ‘Slipping’, both uplifting industrial footstompers that will get both your head nodding and your feet tapping. The only track that I felt was out of place was the final one, ‘Over’, and it wasn’t even because I didn’t like it; being a great deal more experimental than the rest it kind of caused the flow to falter somewhat – essentially it’s a rhythmless soundpiece consisting of disembodied voices and harsh environmental sounds that does nothing to enhance the album.
Like I said above this is a solid set of songs that any fan of this genre will find rewarding to listening to; they won’t set the scene alight by any means but they will get people moving certain parts of their anatomy for sure. For my part I have to register my admiration for those who have the self-belief to invest their own resources in getting their music out there into an already overcrowded market and a world of discerning fans and critics.
