When listening to varieties of music it’s not uncommon to want something with a little pizzazz. Pizzazz in the way that attractive styles penetrate the norm, because as we know it, not all music has the capability of being so accessible; yet effective. I say this because both my 50 year old mom and my 3 year old son dig
Electronic Cigarette, not to mention myself. Sole member, Scott Krasman, composes elegant renditions of trip-hop/ambient hip-hop tracks, continuing with his legacy since his first release
Run Far, Now Stop. I want to distinguish the ‘trip-hop’ tag from the ‘hip-hop’ tag since I’ve seen the label of ‘trip-hop’ on his bandcamp site page but with my experience with hip-hop I would personally inform listeners that the style you’ll receive the most with
Electronic Cigarette is indubitably
hip-hop; instrumental hip-hip.
This 2013 release is rather thematic, utilizing skits which most likely comes from classic movie snippets. The musical feel is highly similar to hip-hop project L’Orange, who uses 50’s skits with smooth bass-rhythmic styles. When track one starts off you will notice a skit speaking about romance but the interesting thing is when the music comes in it feels like you were watching a movie. What I mean is, picture yourself watching a movie scene where music scores are a common resource used to enhance emotional moments. Well, the opener “Non-Sequitur(Romance)” accomplishes just that in a way that is visionary and imaginative. Scott Krasman takes advantage of his musical knowledge using simplistic bass lines and ambient overlays to induce a becoming-psychedelic feel with the listener. I say ‘musical knowledge’ because Krasman is a renowned YouTube guitar shredder legend but you won’t find any shredding on
Electronic Cigarette. No, Krasman realizes that music is about ‘feel’ and you don’t need to hit 100 notes a second to induce comatose revelations.
Variability is a highlight here. Each track tends to hold its own emotional impact. Where track one is casual and lurking, track two makes me want to jump on my skateboard and do tricks I haven’t undertaken in over ten years. In fact, track five, “Locking Eyes with Longlost Evenings”, is surprisingly airy and hypnotic. It feels like floating above neighborhoods, being able to see the personal lives of people you’ve known for years. Abruptly it ends though, which lends me to mention a few personal downsides I noticed. Some tracks don’t hit my emotional needs at times like “Guest List” and “Egads!” which sounds too familiar and ‘done before’. Sometimes the interplay between ambient and hip-hop throws me off from time to time but these are minor setbacks for me and the majority of the tracks are very enjoyable.
Electronic Cigarette is an album worth obtaining as it gives a good time and may even help you visualize things you could not see before. To end on a positive note I shall quote a line from the closer “Tabula Rasa”: “Roderick!! Where are you?!!? Rod answer me! Roderick I can’t see! Roderick, Roderick please!!Please help me!!”.
