Artist: Hystereo
Title: Corporate Crimewave
Label: Soma Records
By: Jason Calvert | 27 August 2005
Tracklist:

1. Opening Bell
2. Deale
3. Validity Revision
4. Executive Memo
5. Velocity
6. Corporate Crimewave
7. Interweb
8. Lets Do It
9. Resistance
10. IPO
11. Futurlude
12. Winters In The City

Hystereo "Corporate Crimewave"

Prepare yourselves, as the electro fuelled synths and housey beats on this album are sure to cause some damage. Hystereo are a duo from Dublin with the members Jack Byne and Conor Murphy. Having worked together for five years, Corporate Crimewave is their debut artist album, and showcases their wealth of talent disguised in many different forms.

The slow electro synths of Opening Bell set the mood, and prepare us for what is to come. Think of what a futuristic robot army would march to before going to war, and this is what we have here. Gradually picking up the pace, a beat is thrown down, and the Hystereo boys let us know that there is no mucking around here. Driving forward with amazing force from here, the atmosphere is set up perfectly for what comes next.

For Deale, the electro shoes are slipped off and replaced with the funky ones. Taking a slightly different direction to what had been set up in the intro, I couldn't help feeling that perhaps this was not the ideal track to place straight after it. However, the pure groove in this track allows the listener to overcome this quite easily, and it has the ability to make you want to jump out of your seat and move!

Back to the electro again for Validity Revision, this would have been a much more suitable follow on from Opening Bell. The composition gleams with complexity, and a tight electro bassline fuels the track with amazing power. Breakdowns along the way ensure interest levels are kept high before moving into one of the highlights of the album: Executive Menu. Stripping the pace back slightly, the groove is dirty, and the funk levels are high. Many contrasting melodies overlay each other, but never interfere with each other, instead compliment each other perfectly.

Proving to the listener that dirty grooves and tight electro hooks make up only a portion of their talent, the boys throw down Velocity. A slower paced track with a strong melodic emphasis, which creates a very strong atmosphere. This track stands out like a gem, primarily due to how it contrasts almost every other track on the album, and showcases a diversity in their musical genius. Straight after this, we are contrasted by the title track, which is one of the dirtiest tracks on the album, fuelled by electro-punk melodies and a strong pulsing beat. Again here, the complexity of the composition is mesmerising, and each element of the track has been whipped up as to cause maximum havoc.

Interweb takes us to a laid back atmosphere, and smooth melodies glide over a classy bassline. The mood is then altered again, and we go back to getting down and dirty with Let's Do It. Electro guitars fuel the track's driving nature, and set up a dirty feel which would rip apart any dancefloor. We then meet Resistance, and go back to the housier feel, with sexy beats underlying an interesting melody which has a real summer anthem type feel to it. IPO follows on well from this, with a classy groove to it which struts forward nicely. The funk influences are evident in the melodies here, and its overall smoothness goes down well.

Futurlude is true to its name, with futuristic melodies swirling over the hypnotic groove underlying the tune. The melody also creates a warm atmosphere, which compliments the driving feel of the track perfectly. We are then brought to the closing opus, Winters In The City, which was Hystereo's first release last year. The tech influenced funk propels us forward, and ensures the album goes out with a bang.

Simply put, this album is magnificent. However, sometimes I felt that the changes in mood were very sudden, and some more thought could have been put into the arrangement of the tracks on the album. The other issue I had was that many of the tracks ended abruptly or just faded out. I get the feeling that all of these tracks were much longer works, which had to be cut down for the album. But by looking at my rating of the album, you can see that these minor details hardly detract from the overall quality of the album. Every single track on this album has an abundance of quality to it, and each holds its own unique style, making Hystereo very hard to categorize. Hitting stores in September, this release is not to be missed.