Pitch Black, the duo from Christchurch are back after nine long years with a brand new dub album, Filtered Senses. It’s dark and mysterious with a laid back lounge club feel.
It’s certainly not heart racing, blood pumping stuff, but it has definitely got its upbeat tracks such as Circuit Bent. The title of the album Filtered Senses sums up the feel perfectly. Great sounds that take over your body.
There are definitely no one-hit wonders as it journeys through the forest of sound with strange noises from the undergrowth hitting you from all sides. It’s a great sound to chill out to, although keep the lights on as spooky sounds from Without The Trees may freak you out a touch.
My favourite song is the last one on the 8 track album, Pixel Dust. A great bass line with a dance feel. The 80’s meets the dub scene would sum it up nicely.
If you liked Rude Mechanicals you are going to love this - it's as though they have never been away.
Turn it up loud and enjoy.
https://itunes.apple.com/nz/album/filtered-senses/id1128068168
Pitch Black are Michael Hodgson and Paddy Free. Having pumped their way through New Zealand’s electronic music scene since their inaugural performance at the annual Gathering New Year's eve festival in 1996, they have spent the subsequent years rousing dance floor punters, generating rave reviews, winning awards and gaining thousands of fans across the world.
Hard to box into a single audio 'genre', Pitch Black is a combination of musical journeys. Their sound is distinctive; ranging from organic ambient beginnings and layered soundscapes to skanking keyboards, cutting acid riffs and thumping rhythmic grooves, with dub being the glue that holds their sound together. One critic has described them as like "Orbital meets King Tubby, or Rhythm and Sound in Technicolor".
It is their live show that really makes Pitch Black stand out from the rest of the crowd, both sonically and visually. Their tracks take on an added dynamism and their performances reveal the dialectic behind the band - Paddy wants to do it for the crowd, Michael wants to do it to the crowd. Visually they are in another dimension thanks to Michael's cutting edge visuals.