Adrian Rew

Slot Machine Music Vol. 2

★★★½

Sometimes field recordings are truly painful. They're sparse and uneventful, but this remains the complete opposite. Not only does it transport you to somewhere that you can see, feel, and smell. And this is round two of that. 

It's so confusing and lush at first that it's almost a roller-coaster that doesn't seem to have an end. Just adrenaline until you get into the longer two tracks. In those, the repetitiveness is transformed into an almost electronic carousal of sounds that are only briefly cut in by the occasion human voice or jackpot siren.

I don't believe that this project had political or moral intentions behind it, but those can certainly be drawn if you think about it. When we're in a casino setting all you can see are the brightly colored lights and attractive sounds that make time literally disappear and it's no wonder that so many lose themselves in it. 

While this isn't something I'd really listen to that often or even again, it's great to immerse yourself in a place that is in many ways harmful and seductive. But of course from the safety of your listening device. The slurry of sounds is disorientatingly alluring in the most primal way possible. 

Favorite Song:  1/1/2014 - Greektown Casino, Detroit, MI