[review]
Leonardo Suárez Jiménez, aka Lozk, blends Western post-industrial electronica with folk influences from other lands on this 10-track CD, to be released on 10th October, 2015. This musician/producer from Bogota, Columbia is also an artist, and his distinctive visual style complements his musical projects with spaced out and other-worldly images.
Complex layers of instrumentation are joined by vocals, but these are not “lyrics” as we normally term them; they are simply syllables. Rather like Sigur Ros’ use of “hopelandic”, which they sometimes employ as their invented language, but which isn’t a language at all, Lozk uses made-up words to replace lyrics – hence, the album title. Thus, the vocals fit the music perfectly. Not having to follow any rules or structure or, indeed, any messages or soul-baring – there is a freedom to these compositions, only existing as soundscapes. Presumably, the song titles are a made-up language too?
Can you dance to it? Well, yes you can – in that freewheeling on a mountain top kind of way. Keyboards, stringed instruments, percussion, and electronic alchemy produce incessant rhythms and a pull that only comes from repetition. The number of genres and sub-genres associated with electronic music is staggering. Lozk explores different styles and pulls everything together, making symmetry out of many strands. He also makes subtle use of samples, recording them himself from everyday objects, street sounds, animals and musical instruments. It’s fun to pluck out a particular sound and try to fathom its source or at least what it resembles. On “Chiaro“, something sounds like a tinkling music box. Tracks switch from mellow to heavier and back again and from East to West to East. “Amaramarea” has a great beat to dance to and a funky bass to mix it up.
With creativity, everything feeds into everything else. Lozk studied classical music for four years, which no doubt influences his music, along with his visual art, photography and videos.
Much of this album reminds me of Nature Ganganbaigal’s Mongolian folk music, especially “Amusaca” and “Warimomba”. The driving rhythm and repetition brings a sense of movement that would lend itself to being a good fit for film scores/game soundtracks, “Han Sow” (see You Tube video) being a good example.
This is the sort of music where you can hear something different each time you play it. It will probably be played as a whole more than people picking out individual tracks. Often, the end of one track repeats at the beginning of the next, emphasizing the album’s completeness. It’s a rich stew, all distilled through Lozk’s all-seeing eye.
Buy Lozk’s music here:
