Electronic music always makes me think of cars. Not classic Jaguars or the exotic Ferraris of the sixties but more the programmed angularity of a modern day Audi replete with multitudinous Bluetooth connectivity options and hybrid functionality. No romance. Just the reduction of the driving experience, once more, to merely getting from A to B. What, therefore, is a man with such analogue sensibilities to make of “TV2” by Transient Visitor?
I’m told that Transient Visitor is the collaboration between Alex Cargill (of The Central Office of Information) and Martin Jensen (of The Home Current) so, perhaps, this could be an album for those diehard fans of minimalist esoteric electronica out there. “TV2” isn’t, however, even slightly esoteric and it follows – no doubt with ironic intent – the well-trodden path leading from the club dancefloor to the underground car park where, no doubt, the aforementioned Audi is warming up for the drive home via the falafel shop.
It is always easy – at least for me -to dismiss the synthetic side of modern music where the sequenced perfection of the rhythm machine uses binary cause and effect to trap you in the maelstrom of mediocrity yet, in the case of Transient Visitor, there is something hypnotic and, dare I say it, determinedly polite about their robotic adventures in sound that would never offend even the ears of the average Joe. Then again, average ears don’t listen to this kind of music so the more adventurous amongst us might therefore see this album as more a commentary on the state of music than the exercise in style that it initially appears to be. No matter, as either explanation will provide a more than adequate reason to keep listening.
As you might expect, this album is available from the usual digital places and as a lathe cut vinyl remembrance from Subexotic Records.