: ' .. .:.... . ' ' ______________ : ________ : ' \ / .. .:. .. \ / : : \ /_________ \ / . .. ... .. . : .\ / /___ /\ \ / ______________ ___ _. : \ / / \ / \ \/ / \ \ \ \ \ . ...:..\ / _______/ \/ \ ___/__ / / / / / : /\ / / \ \/ \ / / / . sH! ' / \/ / / / \ / / . ... .:.... .. . :/ _______/ / / / _______/__ ___ __ .\ / / / / / / / / / / / \ / / / / / / / / / / / . . \ /\______/ / / / / \___ / / : \/ ____ \ / / / / / : \ / \ /\____/\ / / : : ________\/ \ / \ / / : ' \ / \/ \ /\ / : . ..:.. . \ / \/ \ / \ / \ / . ' : \/ F A N G \ / : ' ____ \ / . . .. .. .:.. . \ / presents \ / . . \/ \/ : : . ..:.. , : Artist......: VR Sex : Album.......: Human Traffic Jam : : Label.......: Dais Records .. .:.. . Genre.......: Darkwave : Catnr.......: DAIS134CD . ' Source......: CD , ; Rip.date....: 2020-08-04 Str.date....: 2019-05-10 Quality.....: 268kbps/44.1kHz/Joint Stereo . :.. .:. Url.........: http://www.daisrecords.com/collections/vr-sex ' ' , ________ ________ \ / \ / \ / \ / \ / # title time \ / \/ \/ 1. Surrender 5:40 2. Downgrade 3:39 3. An Epiphany In Gridlock 1:23 4. Sacred Limousine 5:48 5. Maiden China 5:08 6. Psycho Cybernetiks 3:59 7. Cheek Detritus 4:08 8. Facts Without Faces 6:04 9. Corridor (Epilogue) 8:11 ______ \ / ________ Runtime 44:00 ,\ /... . . .... .... \ / ' Size 89.45 ______ :\/ ', \ / , \ / ' '... ..\ /.. .. .....:. .. .... .. . ..\ /. : Release Notes: \/ , \/ , ' ' ,: :, : : :' VR Sex is a project that straddles several different genre ': ,: lines. It's a little noise-rock, a little industrial, a little :, : new wave, a little synth-rock, and probably a few other : :' subgenres I'm forgetting. The album is a sideline for Andrew ': ,: Clinco of the band Drab Majesty, here calling himself Noel Skum. :, : Skum recorded the whole album himself with producer Ben : :' Greenberg, but the live version of VR Sex is a trio, with Z. ': ,: Oro on vocals and drums and Mico Frost on synths and bass. :, : : :' Drab Majesty is also a Clinco project (in that one he goes by ': ,: the androgynous title of Deb Demure) with a decidedly '80s :, : synthpop style. Clearly, VR Sex is a different enough idea that : :' he wanted to remove it from his main band. And there are some ': ,: key differences. There is a haze of noise over everything on :, : Human Traffic Jam. Whether that's an actual audible sound or : :' just a feeling of oppressiveness depends on the track, but it's ': ,: present throughout the album. That haze immediately creates a :, : downbeat mood that says, "We're not here to have fun." It's very : :' effective, and the record is assuredly not fun. ': ,: :, : So if the album isn't any fun, are the songs good enough to make : :' it a worthwhile listen? No, not really. There isn't much on ': ,: Human Traffic Jam that's outright bad, but there isn't anything :, : that transcends the noise and scuzziness to catch the ear, : :' either. The closest the album gets is on a pair of songs that ': ,: have very different feels. "Downgrade" begins with low, buzzing :, : synth bass and synth drums, but soon adds a chiming electric : :' guitar. Skum's chanting, spoken word vocals, though low in the ': ,: mix, have genuine energy, particularly on the chorus, where he :, : shouts, "Time to break down / Time to break down!" over a : :' pulsing hi-hat and distorted guitar. It sounds sort of like ': ,: Depeche Mode trying a punk song. :, : : :' "Maiden China", on the other hand, begins with two clashing ': ,: distorted sounds, one synth and one guitar, before resolving :, : into a kind of grinding pop-rock. Growling distorted bass and : :' tinny drums sounds give the song its main layer of noise while ': ,: other sounds flit in and out. Lyrically, Skum is taking on :, : consumer excess and human trafficking via a monotone delivery, : :' and it would be interesting if the vocal delivery weren't so ': ,: flat. This track more resembles an early Ministry song if Al :, : Jourgensen was too tired to record a solid vocal take. : :' ': ,: And those are the highlights. Opener "Surrender" mashes up :, : industrial noise, chiming '80s pop guitar, and, even stranger, : :' the vocal cadence from Local H's minor '90s hit "Bound for the ': ,: Floor". "Sacred Limousine" takes the social commentary of :, : "Maiden China" but fully buries the vocals in the mix while : :' failing to do anything interesting of note musically. ': ,: :, : But wait, those are just the catchy songs! On the back half of : :' the record, Noel Skum cedes most of the vocal duties to ': ,: pre-recorded found audio. "Cheek Detritus" finds a doctor :, : describing a plastic surgery and a woman's unhappiness with the : :' results. It throws another Ministry-esque buffet of industrial ': ,: noise under this audio, which ends with the self-help punchline :, : that she was unhappy with the results because it didn't change : :' how she felt inside. "Pyscho Cybernetiks" sounds like an ': ,: unearthed VHS-era sales pitch for some electronic-based :, : self-help (yes, again) program. The music underneath is all : :' wobbly synth chords and woozy noise, with so little direction ': ,: that it's difficult even to call it a song. :, : : :' The album closes with the six-minute "Facts Without Faces", ': ,: which has some nice new wave stylings and unexpected chord :, : changes. But it cycles through those changes repeatedly to the : :' point where the listener feels every one of those six minutes. ': ,: But VR Sex isn't quite done. After this last song, there's an :, : eight-minute instrumental, "Corridor (Epilogue)" that finishes : :' out the album for real. It's eight minutes of ambiance, with ': ,: slow, shimmering synths and found audio of what sounds like :, : children shouting and playing. It's interminable. : :' ': ,: The bits of life that pop up on Human Traffic Jam include some :, : interesting, unusual combinations of styles. But the oppressive : :' level of noise, Skum's monotone vocal delivery, and the weird ': ,: but unengaging tangents make this album very much an acquired :, : taste. The week I spent with the record was not enough for me to : :' acquire that taste. ': : ' '.. ..' .. . :........... . . . . ............: . . ______________ ______________ \ / \ / \ / Shout out to all our homies from: \ / \ / \ / \ / iPC BOSS HiT2000 1way UKi i8 RNS \ / \ / RAGEMP3 MANDY DV8 pLAN9 BUTT \ / \ / \ / \/ ____ ____ \/ \ / F A N G \ / \/ 2 0 2 0 \/