It is getting harder and harder to come up with electronic-based music these days that can stand out. Whether it is ambient, post-rock, or electronic pop it just might seem that so many avenues have already been explored and you really have to be able to come up with something truly creative or combine different genre strands to be able to make an impression on the audience. Any artist or band taking such a route really has to know what they are doing, and at the same time, be able to present their ideas in the best possible manner.
Texas duo Beatnik Neon is brave enough to make such an attempt on Yoreself. Listening to the eight tracks here you get the impression that they tried to work on one of the hardest principles these days. That is, combining classical instrumentation with modern technology and add melody and beats in the process. Essentially, Beatnik Neon is trying to combine more or less everything – from pop to R&B, rock, psychedelic, jazz, and classical…for a start.
Seemingly an impossible task, but Nolan Farmer and Yann McBreton, with the help of a few other collaborators, come through the process practically unscathed. Tracks like “Spider” and “Yourself” do put an additional accent on classical music (the latter adds some nifty jazz sax to the proceedings), but without making it sound trite or pompous. To be able to do that, you really need to know both your pop and your classics (or any other music genre) in excruciating detail and be able to execute such a concept. Particularly impressive is the closer “Nocturne” which indicates that the duo has had their ears tuned to the Tango master Astor Piazzola.
Based on what they have come up with on Yoreself, Farmer and McBreton can let their Beatnik Neon really shine.
