Phil Kieran - Shh

It is no accident that much revered Belfast producer Phil Kieran had his debut long player Shh released on Sven Vath’s Cocoon Recordings. Whilst a lot of the time Cocoon’s releases serve as the benchmark standards for high quality house and techno, Kieran has been praised for his futuristic and cutting-edge production for more than a decade.  
Without a doubt, Shh is an artist album that lives up to both Kieran’s and Cocoon’s reputation. Rather than creating an ordinary techno album that would only feed the hunger from the dance floor, in Shh Kieran aims to craft a more subtle and versatile musical journey by embracing an extremely wide range of sounds. As stated in his official website, ‘I tried to use all my knowledge from when I first got into music to try and make an album that captures everything I’ve ever loved about music.’
 
The album begins with Cut Copy Waste, an affair that comprises mainly raw metallic sounds, acidic flavours and layers of chopped-up vocals. Whilst the track’s rawness and energy may surprise some of the purist minimal techno lovers, it possesses the anarchical edge of Kieran’s techno punk band Alloy Mental formed with Martin Corrigan. 
 
When the tune comes to an end, Kieran then virtually leaves the spotlight of the band stage and leads the listener back to the cavernous club environment with the second track Playing With Shadows – a deep, spacey techno affair built around a mechanical and rolling techno rhythm. The dark and hypnotic mood of the track is then strengthened by the denser percussive structure of the next track Blood Barcelona; however when the breakdown finishes, some mesmerizing synths creep in to give a soft twist to the percussion-driven vibe, offering some mysterious tenderness that paradoxically matches with the mechanical techno rhythm nicely.
 
It is obvious that Kieran has meticulously calculated the progression of the album. The softening of the mood mentioned above actually paves the path for the electro track World On TV. Although the deep and spacey vibe is still there, along with the android-like female vocals, the distinct retro synth riffs in this piece are ear-catching and capable of bringing about the more musical side of the album.
 
With the bleeps, glitches, and samples of male voices, techy affair Dirt sounds like a huge contrast to the previous track. Nevertheless, when it reaches the breakdown, the pleasant riffs all of a sudden trigger a resonating effect like a breath of fresh air. Afterwards the previous robotic techno rhythm kicks in, but everything just sounds magically refreshed.
 
It is then followed by R.E.S.P., a proper big room techno track with plodding beats and filthy synths. The shouting of a man and the robotic voice are two other vital elements in this rather masculine affair, which is highly praised by Canadian DJ/producer Tiga.
 
With the interlude Raining For Old Friends, the filth and wildness of R.E.S.P are all washed away refreshingly. As its name suggests, this piece features FX twisted raining sounds, along with warm, soothing melodies. Interesting, it is the shortest track in the album (1:16), but also the most lively and human one.
 
The melodic flavours then become more prominent in Don’t Look Far Away, as Kieran aims to showcase his ability to produce more emotive and musical tunes – indeed it is quite certain that he can convince everyone with this beautiful piece. As the intricate weaves of delightful melodic lines merge with the dreamy tenderness of the female vocals merrily, a joyous, uplifting tune with both underground and mainstream appeals is born and the versatility of Kieran is vividly illustrated.
 
Up until this point, the album has been progressing like a roller coaster ride: techno punk influences, cold and mechanical techno rhythms, ear-catching electro riffs, blissful raining sounds, and tender female vocals are all experienced… it does not end here, though. Bend It Bend It My Dear is another intriguing surprise delivered by Kieran. The beginning of this techno affair captures the ethos of the M usique Concrète aesthetics through Kieran’s creative pan control of tiny bits of sounds; and as it progresses, the twisted, ‘bent’ manipulation of vocal samples and intricate percussive structure serve well enough to keep the track sounding fresh and gaining momentum.
 
The momentum is then further strengthened in Past The Present Future, a Detroit-influenced, rather industrial sounding techno affair. With its pumping bassline and plodding beats, it raises the energy level of the music progression in a heart-throbbing manner and is a delicious treat for the techno-oriented dance floor of clubs like fabric.
 
In contrast to the banging Past The Present Future is the soothing, emotive interlude Foot Of The Hill (yes, another surprise). Despite the track’s short duration (less than two minutes), the soft vocal harmonies and blissful melodies featured in this drum-less and floaty affair vividly craft a post-rock like atmospheric soundscape.
 
Whilst climbing the ‘Never Ending Mountain’ from the ‘Foot of the Hill’ seems to require an immense amount of energy, the grand finale Never Ending Mountain is where the energy level of the whole album surges the most drastically and then gloriously reaches its peak. When the triumphant, invigorating chains of melodies start to flow, an enormous amount of intensities are unleashed - as if they have been withheld for almost the whole musical journey until this point – which are then strengthened by their coupling with the psychedelic vocals; ultimately, the end-product of the chemistry is a spiritual and overwhelming resonance that takes the listener to another space.
 
With his intelligent and innovative approach to capturing a wide spectrum of sounds and re-presenting them in a contemporary and even futuristic way, Kieran has created a splendid artist album with twelve unique tracks. Not only is its unpredictable yet cohesive progression instantly impressive, but his versatile and meticulous craftsmanship manifested in every track also well deserves in-depth analyses and prolonged appreciation from any true electronic dance music lover. One of the best in 2009.