Redinho, "Redinho" (Numbers)

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Eli Fosl

For those of us here in the US, it seems like every time a UK citizen turns on the radio they get an exclusive new track from an exclusive new producer who defies all genre descriptions. In fact the game of trying to label electronic musicians has become so obtuse and diluted that it‰’s yielded terms like “analog maximalism‰” or “post-future-garage‰” in a vague and bleak attempt to convey some tidbit of flavorful information about an artist.

On his latest self-titled release, Redinho, like his predecessors Rustie and The Bug, is the stylistically everywhere. The album has the reverb-laced synths of dance pop, the truncated drum patterns of footwork, the robotic vocals of Daft Punk (or even Kanye for that matter), and most of all, the gleaming, shiny layers of synths and vocal samples that have defined what is often referred to as “maximalism.‰”

This style is most out in the open on tracks like “Bubbles‰” or “Stinger,‰” but make appearances throughout the entire piece. The biggest issue of this variety is that it becomes evident that some of these sounds are not Redinho‰’s strongpoint. His vocals are not great and many tracks seem to show potential but go nowhere.

The album is often plagued with the same issue as Rustie‰’s Green Language: too much transition and not enough substance. Also, his attempts to infuse his music with R&B on “Making Up The Rules‰” or “Get You Off My Mind‰” ‰ÛÒalthough they have decent features- fall short in comparison to his Donkey Kong Country 3 style he toys with on other tracks.

All in all, there‰’s almost no doubt that fans of electronic music from Daft Punk to Com Truise will find something lovable about this LP, and probably have a fun time throwing genre labels at it as well.

RIYL: Rustie, The Bug, ~~maximalism~~, Com Truise, Dave Wise
Recommended Tracks: 3, 6, 7, 15