Akkya

Artist: Akkya

Title: Abandoned Future Perfect

Released: 2011

Label: (self-released on iTunes)

Format: MP3

Genre: Ambient

It’s no secret that with the evolution of communication technology, the world has been shrinking.  This is true often with musicians and artists.  Akkya tracked me down after I met Herd and posted a review for “Tangents 41 – 49” and an interview.  Soundcloud became the medium through which I sampled and plugged into the album, “Abandoned Future Perfect.”  What I think astounds me the most is that labels have yet to pick this up and release it.  Really, they’re missing out.

I think the same could be said about a lot of artists out there in cyberspace.  There are plenty of gems in that vast universe.  Finding them, however, or waiting for them to come to you (the label) is the hard part.  However, a lot of people think that the only people who self-release material are underground and unknown bands or artists when, actually, several well-known and well established groups have been known to do it as well.  For example, Third Eye Blind self-released a single in 2010, FSOL do it constantly through their webpage, and Radiohead sold their “In Rainbows” album for a while on their webpage before it got a physical release.

Self-releasing is a fairly good example of the ultimate DIY.  Believe it or not, there are tons of incredible albums and tracks out there that have been self-released.

Case in point, here we have Akkya!

Akkya’s “Abandoned Future Perfect” is a gem in the vast and ever expanding galaxy of the internet, where the underground becomes the etherground.  It’s a blending of field recordings; and a genius smoothie of new and classic 90s ambient and sound collage.  It is melodic and noisy in a perfect balance.  Drawing inspirations from FSOL, various sci-fi books as well as films, Akkya has created a unique soundtrack to the universe, between Earth’s surface to the farthest reaches of space and time.

We kick off with the sound of rain and thunder, quickly moving into a melodic and soothing synth forest.  Things get pretty deep and vast before you get too far in, and for me, if an album can take you there right away, it really has accomplished something.  Like many landmark ambient releases, the tracks here make up one, massive and seamless piece.  And really, at times, it does remind me of FSOL’s “Lifeforms” in its originality and endless experimentalism and minor sound collage excursions.  But I’m not saying this is an FSOL spin off by any means.  It is completely original and it profoundly maintains its uniqueness and superb individuality.

Of course, trying to review this album track by track is like trying to review a divisionism painting dot by dot.  You can’t do it.  I find that aspect very surprising since I have been able to pull apart other seamless records but I am finding that lately, ambient music has become quite amorphous, yet massive, in its construction, creating its own world.  If you were to pull it apart, you would really lose something important to the piece.  Akkya has woven twenty-four tracks into an elaborate tapestry.  Pulling that apart would leave us with fibers and threads, preventing us
from getting the full picture.

I think I’ve played this album at least ten times.  It’s rare that an album I get today has automatic replay value right off the bat, but this one does.  I think its maybe that each time I play this, I get something new out of it—new feelings, new images in my mind, a new sense of the world itself…  Maybe that sounds completely abstract and snobby but how exactly do you describe a sound unheard of previously?  I think Akkya, Herd and likeminded artists are on to something huge here that maybe people are overlooking.  Some may criticize and say they are mixing elements of old circa-1994 ambient ideals with modern or futuristic sounds and this retro-futurism is more for the likes of popular artists, like Hot Chip, but I strongly disagree.  Why should we limit this “look-back, look-forward” motion and proclaim that it only be left to electro pop or rock?  Ambient has been a genre that’s pushed boundaries and its own genre limitations to new and impossible horizons and its evolution has been rapid.  It really isn’t a bad thing to mix the past with the future, otherwise, there wouldn’t be much point to the present.

So what exactly does this sound like?  As aforementioned, there is a nice blend of past and present here.  There are times I feel like I am listening to
a superb mix of melodic ambient and deep soundscapes.  There are dark and haunting moments, particularly when the dark, futuristic voice proclaims that people are living in a time of perfect happiness.  Before long, we’re sent into a deeply moving piano chord and textured female vocals.  It is a nice relief.  There are moments of deep percussive ambient here, similar in nature to perhaps early FSOL or even Aphex Twin in spots with a hint of Namlook.  In other words, fantastic.

Should you buy this?  Even if you’re just a casual listener in the ambient vein, this should rank highly on your list.  If you’re heavily into the genre as much as I am, this is a wise piece to purchase.  You won’t be disappointed.

5 out of 5.

If you would like to purchase this album on iTunes, go here:

http://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/the-end-of-your-desire/id467463077?i=467463146&ign-mpt=uo%3D4

And, please take a look at Akkya’s Soundcloud!: http://soundcloud.com/akkya