Album Reviews: Polinski – Labyrinths

Labyrinths is the debut solo album of Paul Wolinski from 65Daysofstatic; the active British, electronically flavored group in which he participates. Polinski is the title that he has chosen for his lone work, and I can only imagine that it is pronounced [pawl-in-skee] given that it’s a portmanteau of his actual name. The album cover is pretty damn sick to look at, too. As you can see, it appears to be a sort of Dali-like treatment of William Gibson’s cyberpunk aesthetic, which is not a far cry from the music within. Wolinski offers up a batch of seven songs, each echoing similarities to the electronic nature of his main project.

Listen to “Stitches”

Polinksi – “Stitches” (Feat. Big Black Delta) from Cluster 1 on Vimeo.

For those of you who are easily struck by nostalgia (and are over the age of 25), check this awesome music video out. It’s chock full of text adventure glory.

The Pros:

Wolinski crafts a really creative blend of chiptune music on Labyrinths. One song from this album can venture sonically in a variety of ways. You could see this played to a laser tag party, a dance club, or a sweet GameBoy cartridge game. All would be totally fitting. I find it hard to critique this without mentioning Halloween Swim Team, a band that I reviewed earlier this year who also delved into the realm of 16-bit sounds. They didn’t impress me in the slightest, but comparatively, their music was quite subdued. Wolinski’s synths are on full blast, 24/7. He works from beautiful, quiet breaks that build up to fast raves harkening back to the scores of Blade and The Matrix. Another important difference is that this entire album, save for some computerized vocals used as the silver lining of a couple tracks like “Stitches,” is an instrumental work.

When electronic music is set at this pace, it is usually best left as a sans-vocals deal. Daft Punk finds a hell of a lot of success following the same formula. “Tangents” has remnants of the samples you could use in the Playstation bargain bin classic MTV Music Generator. Not literally, but if you know what I mean, then you know the greatness in store. The track with the most potential is “Still Looking.” It’s an odyssey of a tune that makes you wish it could last a second helping of seven minutes. Speaking of lengthy clock-ins, you may notice that “Kressyda” ends at eleven-and-a-half minutes. Wolinski thankfully doesn’t spend this time in self indulgence by “experimentally” spewing out blaring digital screeches left and right. Labyrinths remains listenable throughout; a feat that many artists have a hard time pulling off.

The Cons:

After listening to this album, you get a sense that if Wolinski can do something as good as this, he can produce a much better album. This isn’t necessarily a con, but it’s more out of excitement for what’s in store. This is the world’s first taste of the Polinski outfit. Once you have heard it, you get that itching feeling for the music that lies ahead. To reference a past example, Labyrinths has a great possibility of being what Tweez was like before Spiderland.

The Verdict:

So, hold on to your seats. My fingers are crossed for two reasons: one, being that Paul Wolinski continues to make music in the first place and that Polinski is not just a one-off project, and two, that his presumed sophomore effort electrifies our socks volumes more than his debut already does. As for the here and now, Paul has a great sleek and retro image going for him. Get familiar.