The Weblog Of Leonard’s Lair

For some, the electro-clash movement was a passing fad. Clearly no one told Florida’s Jonathan Glover who continues his one-man mission to give robots voice on his second album recorded under the name of Ars Phoenix. Yet it’s pleasing to report that Glover is, above all, a good songwriter and able to combine different genres very skilfully.

Thanks to the breathy desperation of Glover’s voice (not dissimilar to Steve Strange in his pomp) and the occassionally dodgy lyric (”Does it not make you proud to see robots dance around”), ‘Engines Of Progress’ does sometimes err towards the camp side and after over an hour of this music, there’s quite a lot to take in one sitting. Glover works best when he incorporates other styles into his music, which he does on a regular basis.

‘The Dry, Cracked, Yearning Earth’ uses grinding, gothic guitars to get its apocalyptic message across. ‘Through Nets Of Granite’ is a doomy song made attractive thanks to its haunting keyboard melody whereas the post-punk bass propelling ‘Sovereign’ and serene synth tune for ‘Twigs’ add to the list of compelling moments. In addition, a couple of instrumental passages reveal an unexpected lightness of touch; ‘Modules’ and ‘Tone Poem (Minus Text)’ rank well above the level of incidental music and cross over into IDM territory. There’s no doubt that this record could have been trimmed (the second half is definitely weaker than the first) but the variety, melody and experimentation is usually pitched at the right level and - despite initial reservations - I enjoyed the album more and more after each listen.

Web Sites:
Ars Phoenix MySpace
For Documentation Only Label Site

Further Listening:
Depeche Mode, Visage