AnimalZOO – Melody Kiss

The word progressive has been used to describe music, especially electronic music, in many different ways. When you hear someone describe music as "prog" it automatically evokes some (usually negative) feelings that you can't help but project onto what you are listening to. While prog or prog house often refers to a class of late 70s guitar music or terrible late 90s/early 2000s techno, that is not what the word means. To me, the word progressive represents forward-thinking movement, a step toward the future, something new. Completely experimental sound is purely progressive in that sense, but that doesn't mean it is enjoyable to listen to. In electronic dance music, a marriage of progressive ideals and what generally makes you want to dance/feel good is needed. So much club-friendly electronic music is so terribly stagnant and lifeless, sounding like two or three loops that were produced then 'Ctrl+C'd' and 'Ctrl+V'd' side by side in Ableton Live or Logic Pro or some other editing software, without any additional thought behind them. Sure, the constant low end thumping of a kick drum will make you physically 'feel' the beat at a club, but if there is nothing going on to keep your brain actively listening to the music, you'll probably completely forget the song and never listen to it again. Without many people realizing it, the progressive elements to most new music a person want to listen to music again and again, the new things that they've never heard before, the new transitions, the new sounds, the new patterns. We live in a generation that binges on music, then shits out 95% of it to be never listened to again, to be completely forgotten. I'm not saying we shouldn't be- 95% of it is generally disposable shit worth shitting out; but the other 5% strikes chords that the shit doesn't, through being progressive.

Wide Angle Recordings out of Ottawa seems to consistently release music in that 5%. "Melody Kiss" by AnimalZOO is one of these releases. I've been listening to it repeatedly, along with the equally moving Tundra and Jesse Somfay remixes, and it has yet to cross over to the 95%. "Melody Kiss" was released earlier this year and we will likely see more high quality material from Wide Angle in the coming months. The title track stutters into a series of bending crescendos, moving into a melodic sequence that carries it through a journey of twists and turns that can only be described as progressive. The novelty of "Melody Kiss's" uplifting aspects keep the listener looking forward and shed light on the future. This release is definitely high quality stuff.