Gelbart

"Mass Hypnosis By Proxy" CD

Defekt Records

Genre: toy-pop, instrumental pop, experimental pop

Berlin, Germany

May 8, 2009

Adi Gelbart's spirit is intoxicating. He creates bleepy, instrumental toy-pop nuggets that, despite being fun, also command your attention by way of their musicianship. Over time, his songs have become increasingly nuanced as well as edgier, moving from more childish older work to the more complex and hip sounds of Mass Hypnosis By Proxy. Yet the universal accessibility of his music has remained a constant.

These eight songs range from synthesized Haackian pop ("Gong in Mirror," "Olpoq (Blues)") to more harsh and chaotic tomfoolery ("A New Language Atomic," "Mass Hypnosis by Magnets"). The theme on this disc appears to be outer space, with the album cover overlain with planetary landscapes, aliens, and rocket-esque machinery. Other influences that come to mind are video games ("Gong in Mirror," "Mass Hypnosis By Proxy"), kiddie cartoons, and cute videos of animals on trampolines (yes, that's right). While moments on this disc drag, the album's peaks are moments of sheer brilliance -- be it the epic world of wonder that is "Ode to the Bomb" or the wildly metamorphosing, Legend of Zelda-esque "Gong in Mirror." The Bruce Haack faithful will find a lot to like here, as will everyone with an open-minded yet light-hearted approach to music. With Mass Hypnosis By Proxy, Gelbart has created a distinctly intergalactic adventure of a record, as well as his best yet.

gelbart's myspace

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youuuuuuuutube!: "a new language atomic" video

Matt Shimmer

[Vitals: 8 tracks, distributed by CD Baby, released 2008]