Genre: Electronic

01 Fall
02 Gemini
03 Clear
04 Tides
05 Under Control
06 Thrown
07 Scant
08 Relent Less
09 Count on Nothing
10 Catalyst / Reagent
11 Snakebite

As I took the CD out of its case, whose cover featured the gorgeous Ayleene de Monn, I didn’t quite know what to expect, although the album’s title strongly implied some sort of sadomasochist theme. I then set the music to play, turning the volume up as my mind wandered in faraway dimensions, taken away by the beats of Pleasure, Pain, and Distraction. It turned out to be a rather pleasant ride.

Skin Contact’s first full-length album is quite a kinky electronic music release. The notes suggest dark, twisted romance scenes, perverting the listener in some sort of dangerously horny mood. All songs breathe this sexually charged aroma, and each of them twists the concept around and around, adding variety in both sound and musical approaches. The feeling of danger, allied with that of desire surrounds the listener as a giant snake capturing an unaware prey in the middle of a thriving erotic rainforest. “Thrown” especially illustrates this feeling, the lusty melodies throwing themselves on top of another, entrancing the listener with a warm, orgasmic scent.

This release is exceptionally well thought out. Each sound seems to have been intentionally calculated for its purpose, as if Kevin Breidenbach meticulously sculpted each sound wave in a divine and all-knowing fashion. Each melody, in turn, is composed of extremely studied tones and beats, and features intelligent effects and hooks to entertain the listener. The melodies, beats, and samples are added to each other in a very clever manner, one which enables the rhythm to remain intact while the elements blend together in a sensual and evocative way, yielding unexpected harmonies.

Pleasure, Pain, and Distraction is difficult to place on the map of electronic genres of the 21st century, for the man behind the project has been around quite a number of points along that map. It is comparable to IDM in that it is intelligently and sometimes calmly presented, but has a much more present, danceable beat. It is however not comparable to some of the more conventional electronic genres out there, for the level of musical experimentation is much higher than many unadventurous projects that have started circulating in the music realm this last decade.

This album is great to listen to, it’s great to look into, it’s great to repeat over and over again until the note progressions carve themselves into your brain, and it’s above all a great album to make love to. If you have no hostility towards or no prejudice against electronic music, you will like the taste of this release, and you will wish all electronic musicians had Kevin Breidenbach’s talent and programming skills.