Team Metlay
Bandwidth
This is a really fun CD! At first listen, the hooks are almost too good, the sounds too synthesized, almost cheesy. But damn-it if it isn't just plain fun. Think of it as a guilty pleasure, like eating a big bag of potato chips, although you probably won't feel quite that guilty afterward. Uptempo numbers like ‘The Hinge of Fate’ are irresistibly catchy and toe tapping. Think Tangerine Dream of the late 1980s, as far as the structured composition, but with cooler sounds. Mike Metlay conceived the project, after meeting the other band members on the internet. They all decided to get together, either personally or via emailing of music files, and the end result is very good.

‘Netstrophonie’ sounds like a heretofore undiscovered piece of Tangerine Dream soundtrack music, and a good slice of modern EM it is. While most of the selections are quite short, this track is allowed nearly nine minutes to go through its paces, which is great because it is a standout. The music changes pace with ‘Oxygen Feed’, a lighter, airy piece with a sharp, metallic, resonant character. Excellent. In the silly song titles department, we have ‘March Of The Plastic Ants’, but indeed the music does march along triumphantly with some playful percussion panning back and forth as great lead lines assert themselves strongly here. I believe the lead is a synth of some sort, but with a lot of bite, more like an electric guitar in sound and feel - in either case, another strong track. By now, you're probably getting the idea.

Mostly shorter tracks, with great melodic hooks and a very electronic sound throughout. Only ‘Madeira’, with its midi horns and sentimental electronic piano tinkling, disappoints. Otherwise, Bandwidth is a thoroughly entertaining listen. (PD)

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