Solvent – Elevators And Oscillators

Solvent’s “Wish” is hot. Juicy hot. The kind of juicy hot where you throw your panties or underwear against the wall and they stick kind of hot. :)

As the companion piece to APPLES & SYNTHESIZERS, ELEVATORS AND OSCILLATORS starts with the gentle, nearly romantic strains of "Wish" before Mitgang Audio puts a smooth rub onto "My Radio," while Legowelt offers a darker take on the track. Schneider TM later adds some guitar and unaltered vocals, turning it into deliciously twangy synth-pop (JDSY will also add his own vocals to "For You," though without the guitars). Both "Devices and Strategies" and "Apples and Oranges" go the melodic route, as does the title track, though the bassline is slightly heavier there. Lowfish gives "For You" a mix of clatters and blips, while ISAN offers the same track a delicate twinkle. But the strongest track on the album is probably the Alter Ego's blistering mix of "Think Like Us": aggressive, thundering, and utterly catchy.

beautiful production.
very recommended.

A half a year after the release of “Apples & Synthesizers”, Ghostly International put another log in the fire by releasing this compilation with six new compositions plus seven remixes of SOLVENT tracks. It is almost embarrassing how often the words “wonderful” and “beautiful” have been used recently to describe SOLVENT’s (or Lowfish’s) music, but how would you do it ?!? The first track “Wish” is simply nothing but ……ful, and “Devices and Strategies”, too... Then, to Anna’s big surprise, all the remixes/remakes (but one) are very good as well: THE MITGANG AUDIO’s easy chilling “My Radio”, LOWFISH’s standard brilliance in “For You”, LEGOWELT’s anarcho remake of “My Radio”, ISAN’s typical warm and organic interpretation of “For You”, or SCHNEIDER TM MUSTANG’s cool version of “My Radio”. Anna just thinks you need this one, too, so go fot it!

2005 release by Solvent including remixes of Solvent songs and a few originals. Among the originals, opening track "Wish" and track 8, "Devices And Strategies" really stand out as shimmering synth pop songs and are worth the price of admission alone. Some of the other originals are less developed, but still offer vibrant analogue themes. The Mitgang Audio remix of "My Radio" and Lowfish's version of "For You" rank at the top of the remixed tracks on this release.