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Younger Brother - Vaccine Electronic


the goa constrictor

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Artist: Younger Brother

Album: Vaccine Electronic
Label: Twisted
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Review:

Getting to hear this album has to have been one of the longest, most pointless, journeys I’ve had to endure, but I’m so thankful that they finally pulled their heads out of asses and made this available to the public.

 

For those unaware, Younger Brother started out as a project between the esteemed Simon Posford (Hallucinogen, Shpongle) and Benji Vaughn (Prometheus, Prometheus Process, The Zap!). Their first album was a somewhat straightforward take on the various sounds of psychedelic trance. The second album is where the magic truly formed though.

 

On their 2007 album The Last Days of Gravity, Benji and Simon enlisted the help of Leftfield vocalist Ruu Campbell. The album used the vocals sparingly, mixed and folded into the luscious psychedelic swirl that was the Younger Brother soundscape. It was a breathtaking album and was going to lead towards one of two ways: they were either going to amp up the vocals and become more of a real band (more Coldplay than Radiohead or Underworld) or they were gonna keep making an interesting blend of modern psychedelic Underworld meets Radiohead chill out pop dance music.

 

Well, in 2011, they did the perfectly predictable and completely sad, and released Vaccine. Vaccine was not what I wanted. Underneath all of the standard pop songs was a real unique album; I just couldn’t hear it. This bullshit was annoying mostly because I knew, deep down, they probably mixed it entirely differently, in a way that would capture what it should have been, and that I would likely never hear it.

 

Then, they admitted it. After suffering through the blandness of Vaccine in its original released form, Younger Brother hinted that there was an Electronic Mix of the album. They would play tracks of it at DJ sets, but it was never released. Eventually, they released a shite phone app that would stream it. But, really? Fuck you. Honestly. Fuck you. That is garbage. I want the album. Ideally, I would like it on vinyl. But a CD is good too. Hell, a proper download would be the least desirable but still acceptable format. Why wouldn’t they release it?

 

Well, I have a variety of thoughts on this and what I believe is that they were committed to breaking into the mainstream with pop music and wanted to push Vaccine to its fullest. Well, that album didn’t take off as high as I think they were expecting. It was just not special. There was little to set it apart from the rest of the bland and forgettable shit being released. Releasing the Electronic mix of the album would make this resonate even more strongly. So they made it the most impossible album to get. It was Beach Boys Smile of a new era. Only this wasn’t shelved due to the psychological malfunctions of its composer. Well, it WAS due to this, but it wasn’t due to needing to be institutionalized, it was due to believing that selling a crap ton of commercially safe music might be better for them.

 

That failed and then, four years after Vaccine, and eight years after what was first explored in Last Days of Gravity, the true followup, Vaccine Electronic has been released unto the world. And it is AMAZING.

 

It is so good.
Lush, weaving soundscapes. Warm melodies, soft vocals being carefully manipulated by true masters of their craft. It’s just enough to tell you the story and take you on the journey without getting you lost in exposition. Show it, don’t say it. Paint the story with a variety of elements.

Vaccine Electronic is the Younger Brother album I’ve been waiting for since 2007 and I hope that they release a followup to it soon. And not the vocal version of it either. Please continue following on the path of Last Days of Gravity and Vaccine Electronic and release more experimental, psychedelic, mixed tempo, pop music for a new era.

 

Thank you for finally giving us what we wanted.
Thank you for listening to the fans.
Please don’t take so long next time

 

xoxox

-Genghis Goa Constrictor

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