Mark Barrage
Delays
14 Track, LP (2008, Mistletone)
Related: Barrage.
When I first saw Mark Barrage perform in 2004, he was simply Barrage – a skinny, snot-nosed punk kid with some electronic doo-dads that used to break down frequently as he contorted and hurled himself around the room in some sort of narcissistic fit. At the time, Barrage’s music was some odd amalgam of glitch pop and deconstructed electro-punk, with echoes of new romanticism’s fey posturing.
All those elements are present on *Delays, his second album, which apparently took three years to make. But there is a lot more going on here as well, as Barrage has refined his vision. His minimalist synth constructions consciously reference the cold atmospherics of early German electronica and the stripped-back pop of Neue Deutsche Welle groups like D.A.F. and Grauzone.
The mood he creates on Delays is one of melancholy, rather than the brash in-your-face attitude of old. And it works much better as a listening experience. The variety of electronic sounds and sublime melodies ensure that things never get monotonous or drab. By keeping real-life elements such as percussion, clean vocals and analogue instruments in the mix alongside computer-generated sounds, Barrage creates a very human sound.
This might seem like a contradiction, considering the overall feeling of isolation and insularity, but this is the tension on which this album hinges. Ultimately Barrage draws the listener into his world by stealth and subtlety. It’s a world of many layers and meanings, which reveals more of itself with every repeat listening. And that is always the hallmark of a great work of art.
Delays is an album of intelligent, beautifully crafted, moody electronic pop music and hopefully will introduce Mark Barrage to a much wider audience beyond the confines of Melbourne’s indie scene.
by René Schaefer
Melburnians from north and south united under the Mistletone banner on…
Mistletone Records will see out summer in style with a series of "Summ…
If you’ve seen either of Panel of Judges, Love of Diagrams, Spider Vom…
