The second disc from Milwaukee experimental folkie Jay Flash doles
out another helping of political sentiments and personal reflection, often
within the same song. Guitar strumming mixes with synth programming of a
systems-oriented classical bent that sounds like he collaborated with Philip
Glass or Laurie Anderson. Bits of beats that sound like the scraps left over
from drum & bass and glitch techno productions add occasional percussion.
With Flash’s often affecting yelp of a voice pitched somewhere between a catharsis for the whole world and diffidence about his own emotional needs, it’s largely a winning combination. Even among the alt rock and freak folk communities that would likely have the most empathy for Flash’s vision, he's working outside of anybody’s preconceived boxes. But the desperate-sounding human element to his work—it sounds like Flash wants to touch and be touched—resonates strongly and bodes well for even more imaginative, complex work to come.
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this is the kind of music that the mainstream does not want to promote: emotive thought-provoking intelligent, and really really powerful.