29 Mar 2024
UsernamePassword

Remember Me? | Join | Recover
Click here to sign in via social networking

Urbantramper - Internet Freedom Is Love Album Review

24 Jun 2012 // A review by Alistar3000

Sometime you get an idea about a band without even taking the time to find out what they’re really about. That happened to me with Wellington’s Urbantramper – a band that’s been around town for a while, yet a band that I hadn’t checked out because I had some weird preconceived idea about what I expected them to sound like. Where this came from I have no idea, but the opportunity to hear their new album Internet Freedom Is Love was a chance to right those wrongs.

And man, was I blown away by what I heard. The band seem to move in indie circles, but to describe them as an indie band doesn’t even come anywhere close to capturing what they actually do. For a start, this is more electronic pop goodness, than shoegazing droning guitars. There are undercurrents of world music, and hints of tribalism in the rhythm section.

Layers upon layers of sound rise and swell, before dropping away again, lending an organic feel to this very electronic music. Reverbed vocals float above the instrumentation, with the occasional drop of autotune reminding you that this is essentially an album of, from and for the digital age. 

The album is essentially a love letter to technology; references to the everyday influences of the online world are scattered throughout, yet for all the modernity there’s often a very retro flavour to songs, with several sounding as though they could have been updated and rebooted from 80’s pop.

There’s plenty of bands, local and international, out there doing similar things to what Urbantramper have achieved with iFiL, and getting a lot more attention, but to this new fan Urbantramper do it better than anyone else I’ve heard recently.

Internet Freedom Is Love
View Track Listing
 

About Urbantramper

A band featuring members of the treeninja kollektiv. Urbantramper play, write, perform and record music... They also engage in other creative endeavours...

Manifesto-in-progress: to try and capture emotions/experiences, that are felt or perceived, and present them in a digestible, aesthetically pleasing format. To stimulate feeling in our listeners; be it that of concurrence with the emotion we attempt to convey, or of reaching a place hitherto not explored. To play, write, perform and record with ardour and respect for our subject, ourselves, our listeners and the artform itself; We aknowledge our responsibility to all...


Visit the muzic.net.nz Profile for Urbantramper

Releases

Tomorrow We Leave Here
Year: 2013
Type: EP
Internet Freedom Is Love
Year: 2012
Type: Album
Buy Online @ Mightyape
Rise & Ride Toward...
Year: 2009
Type: Album
Tokon & The Colours
Year: 2007
Type: Album
To The Future Foot...
Year: 2004
Type: Album

Other Reviews By Alistar3000

Primacy - Single Review: Shade Black
15 Oct 2015 // by Alistar3000
Auckland 5-piece Primacy are one of those bands that don’t try and hide their influences; their new single Shade Black is a healthy blend of all that was good about ‘90s rock, and that’s not a bad thing. Starting out with a Tool-like intro that soon gives way to a heavier, chugging riff, the song maintains a freshness and urgency throughout.
Read More...
Cairo Knife Fight - Album review: The Colossus
11 Jun 2015 // by Alistar3000
Having seen Cairo Knife Fight perform live many times over the past few years I’d always been under the assumption they were performing songs from a number of prior recordings. So I was a little surprised to discover that The Colossus was actually their first album (they do have a few EPs recorded), and more surprised to find that long time guitarist Aaron Tokona (AHoriBuzz) was no longer a key part of the band, and makes only a small appearance on the album – with that revelation I didn’t know what to expect when I pressed play.
Read More...
Mel Parsons - Album Review: Drylands
05 May 2015 // by Alistar3000
Back in 2011 I reviewed Mel Parsons' second album Red Grey Blue and enjoyed it – it had some well written songs, was well produced, and was easy to listen to. When I first popped in her latest album Drylands, I thought she’d taken a bit of a different path to the alt-country that dominated her first album.
Read More...
Album Review: Tahuna Breaks Live 10
02 Apr 2015 // by Alistar3000
It’s hard to believe that Tahuna Breaks is celebrating 10 years making music together, although they do seem to have always been around, and I guess if anyone’s going to be keeping a record of how long they’ve been making their brand of funkified reggae, it’d be them. To celebrate the occasion they’ve release Tahuna Breaks Live 10 – 10 tracks spanning their career, recorded live last year at a one-off concert to celebrate the milestone (so I guess the album should actually be called 10 + 6 months).
Read More...
State Of Mind - EP Review: Until The World Ends
12 Feb 2015 // by Alistar3000
Auckland drum and bass duo State of Mind are no strangers to collaboration, having worked with the likes of Tiki Taane and PNC to craft some big hitting tracks that achieved a lot of airplay. This time round they’re working with the trio from Black Sun Empire, hailing out of the Netherlands, produce the heavy hitting Until The World Ends EP together.
Read More...
Album Review: Latinaotearoa in Latinoamerica
09 Dec 2014 // by Alistar3000
When I started reading about the concept behind the second Latinaotearoa album it sounded like a good idea and I was quite excited to have a listen to it. If you’re not familiar with the story, Auckland musician Isaac Aesili (Solaa, Opensouls, Eru Dangerspiel, Funkommunity) teamed up once again with Venezualan singer Jennifer Zea, and Brazilian-born DJ Bobby Brazuka, to research and write a bunch of songs in Brazil, then record the album of Latin-influenced tunes in Brazil and Auckland with guest appearances by some great musicians (such as Raiza Biza, Julien Dyne, Riki Gooch and Miguel Fuentes) – what should, on paper, lead to some great experimentation and crossovers of styles.
Read More...
Beastwars Live at San Fran, Wellington 10/10/2014
21 Oct 2014 // by Alistar3000
I was finding it hard to believe that it’d been over 18 months since I last saw Beastwars play in Wellington as I stumbled on down to the newly refurbished San Fran in Wellington last week. I’m not sure why it’d taken me so long to go back to Wellington’s number one metal (or at least heavy rock) band, especially since they’d never disappointed me before.
Read More...
Into Orbit - Caverns Album Review
24 Aug 2014 // by Alistar3000
Wellington two piece noisemakers Into Orbit have an appropriate name for the kind of music they’ve created on their new album Caverns; it’s spacey feeling, often out there and is sure to take off. I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect from the album before listening to it (or even if I’d like it at all), but came away a devoted fan after having it on constant repeat for a couple of days while I explored everything it had to offer (I’m still not there yet, not even close).
Read More...
View All Articles By Alistar3000

NZ Top 10 Singles

  • WE CAN'T BE FRIENDS (WAIT FOR YOUR LOVE)
    Ariana Grande
  • BEAUTIFUL THINGS
    Benson Boone
  • END OF BEGINNING
    Djo
  • LOSE CONTROL
    Teddy Swims
  • TEXAS HOLD 'EM
    Beyonce
  • STICK SEASON
    Noah Kahan
  • PRAISE JAH IN THE MOONLIGHT
    YG Marley
  • CARNIVAL
    Kanye West And Ty Dolla $ign
  • SATURN
    SZA
  • LOVIN ON ME
    Jack Harlow
View the Full NZ Top 40...
muzic.net.nz Logo
100% New Zealand Music
All content on this website is copyright to muzic.net.nz and other respective rights holders. Redistribution of any material presented here without permission is prohibited.
Report a ProblemReport A Problem