You can pretty much count on Steve Moore to release amazing music on a consistent basis; whether he’s scoring films, releasing solo work, dropping mind melters with AE Paterra in Zombi, dabbling in dance pop with Miracle, or even giving us something as out there as the groovy Lovelock. Steve Moore is always working on his craft and pushing the limits of his sonic world.
His sound palate stretches across the music spectrum as well. He dabbles in electro/sci fi prog(Zombi), ambient, deep space dread(The Guest, The Mind’s Eye, Bliss), or diving into dance floor techno(Mayhem, Miracle), and absolute zone-out Komische/Berlin School(see his Bandcamp page for a deep dive.)
Ten years ago Moore released an EP with Cologne, Germany’s Kompakt label called Bayern Kurve. He has returned to the electronic label with the excellent EP Frame Dragging. It’s four tracks intermingling Moore’s virtuosic synth playing and world building. It’s around 25-minutes of pure heavy synth/techno bliss.
With Frame Dragging you leave your baggage at the shuttle door and just blast off into the atmosphere for less than a half hour. Headphones on, eyes shut, and let the maestro do the rest. It’s refreshing letting go sometimes, and with this short-but-sweet blast from Steve Moore letting go is priority one.
The first thing that hits you is the pulsating title track “Frame Dragging”. It definitely brings Moore’s main gig to mind with the driving kick drum and spaced-out synthesizers. But it’s less the hard-hitting progressive trip and more of a visceral experience. Sweet electro abandon. “Gravity Well” digs deep into Komische vibes. Hefty swaths of synth layer like dense clouds on a burning horizon. It’s the perfect two-minute haze to get your prepared for the nearly 10-minute “Gamma Quadrant”. A steady dance floor heartbeat takes us into deep space disco territory. Moore makes the most of the track’s nearly 10-minute length by locking into a groove and keeping us engaged the whole time. He keeps things light, giving the song an almost Giorgio Moroder feel. “Protostar” closes out the journey with a mixture of rhythm and hazy synths. A perfect way to end the journey.
As I said at the beginning, you can always count on Steve Moore to keep pushing his music and expanding our minds with each release. Frame Dragging is no different.
Frame Dragging is available now through Kompact. Buy it here.
Complex Distractions 