André Obin (SCQ's Year-End Questionnaire Part II)

Forget his impressive touring schedule, which witnessed him opening for the likes of Phantogram, Tycho, and Matthew Dear; André Obin’s also responsible for one of 2010’s finest EPs. Front Runner presents a songwriter compounding sinister songwriting and detailed synth-pop into a tantalizing dark alley you can’t help but drunkenly explore. Little did I know, André Obin’s own nightlife explorations sought to expose precisely those venomous veins of rave-up violence as divulged in the interview below...

SCQ: Every list-lover's favourite question: what are your top albums of 2010? Feel free to include any older yet worthy records you discovered this year.

AO: I haven't had enough time to engage full albums this year which is unfortunate because I consider myself an album guy. Here’s a list of tracks from the past year that I adore...

Serena-Maneesh – "Reprobate!"
Crystal Castles featuring Robert Smith - "Not in Love"
Pantha Du Prince - "Behind the Stars"
Class Actress - "Journal of Ardency"
Coralcola - "Egggirl"
Depreciation Guild - "Dream About Me"
Avoxblue - "A Place Without Time"
Tamaryn - "Mild Confusion"
Steve Moore - "Saturnalia"
Lookbook - "Over and Over"

a few "older" tunes that were on repeat all year...

Byetone - "Plastic Star"
Jesu - "Hard to Reach"
Bauhaus - "In the Flat Field"
Spiritualized - "Let it Flow"
Radiohead - "Go Slowly"

SCQ: What were you listening to a lot of while recording the excellent Front Runner EP?

AO: William Basinski - El Camino Real, David Bowie - Low, GAS - Nah und Fern, NIN - Pretty Hate Machine, lots of Slowdive, The Knife - Silent Shout, Horace Andy - In The Light Dub, My Bloody Valentine - Loveless, Carbon Based Lifeforms "Betula Pendula", Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five "The Message"

SCQ: Be cocky for once in your life: what was the finest thing you did all year? That moment where you actually thought "shit, I nailed that..."?

AO: I think I know the feeling you are speaking about and that I may have experienced it. I'm not sure it happened this year. Either that or it happened a lot. I can't tell. What I can tell you is that I’m excited to be releasing a new vinyl 12” called “Soft Rain” on Trouw Records in Amsterdam soon. There is a sequence in the track that I love. I usually can write a melodic line a lot faster than getting the color/texture for the synthesis right and it all happened almost simultaneously this time. Synthesis is an arduous process for me and it felt really good to have a component of the song finished almost instantly. It might seem like a small detail but the little things are just as important to me as "achievements".

SCQ: Effect and Cause: Leaving a friend's apartment to catch my route's last bus, I found that construction had temporarily blocked service to all nearby bus-stops. My ensuing dash, which lasted six blocks, was paced to 'Golden Hair' and complimented all that's cosmopolitan and sketchy about downtown late at night. Okay, your turn: confess a true tale that inspired one of the songs on Front Runner EP.

AO: A few years ago I found myself in Berlin. I was outside of a club in Alexanderplatz late at night and had had quite a few vodka tonics. I was looking for more fun. I tried to buy some stuff from two hoods. A minute after the transaction I realized they had taken me. Rather than just let them have my money, I chased them for a mile, confronted them in an alley way and ended up trying to fight them both. I was a mess for the rest of the trip and honestly I'm lucky to be alive. The chorus of "Valencia" is directly related to this incident. No regrets by the way.

SCQ: If all the reasonable and implausible ideas in your head came to fruition in 2011, what would they be?

AO: I have roughly 50 unfinished songs/tracks/ideas that I’d love to sink my teeth into. If I can get 10 of those songs finished in 2011, I would consider that a huge accomplishment. Most of the music I produce takes a long time to complete and I'm fine with that. It's important to have a strong concept at the start of each project. I’d also love to continue performing live on a regular basis. 2010 was really good to me in that respect. I'm in search of passion, intensity and meaning in life. Ultimately, I want to make timeless music and tour the world.

Front Runner - Andre Obin

Front Runner

Andre Obin
Moodgadget Records.

SCQ Rating: 75%

Titled after the notion that autonomy can outperform the chasing pack, Front Runner weighs the benefits and hindrances of going it alone. On the plus side, this latest EP finds Obin working amid the perfect loner-parameters, given how synth-pop is essentially equivalent to a slow bloodletting on the dancefloor. All of its oily passageways and nihilistic tendencies are in full bloom over tracks like the incendiary ‘Valencia’, with its scathing radio-signaled-in chorus, and ‘Gazelle’, which helps itself to M83’s deep saws and tight beats. Founded on such nocturnal and malevolence moods, Front Runner’s sharpest material would feel inappropriate in the light of day, or anywhere remotely attached to one’s regular routine.

That’s the problem with such a narrow sonic focus and, had Obin stuck with his devious Depeche Mode influences throughout, Front Runner might’ve relegated itself to strictly weekend-listening. Thankfully Obin counteracts these aggressive numbers with more androgynous tracks, still hopelessly thick-skinned, but thoughtful and versatile enough for daily soundtracks. Padded, if no less propulsive, than ‘Valencia’ is ‘Golden Hair’, a 4/4 synth-trip that crests alongside distance vocals. Surrounding this late highlight are two instrumentals, ‘The North Sea’ and ‘Gossamer’, each just as indispensable for letting in frosty rays of light to give Front Runner a lighter touch. Ultimately these instrumentals serve Obin by shifting the EP into a gleaming neutral, hinted at on ‘The Arsonist’; a dreamy pace-keeper that fades out quickly just when you’d expect it to explode. Yes, Andre Obin succeeds well ahead of the pack on Front Runner’s synth-pop pursuits, but his strategy to stay ahead may rest in slowing things down.