De:Bug
Vital

De:Bug, Germany. November 2003.
Ray Sweeten heißt der Mann, der Synthpop einfach toll findet und hier auf seinem ersten Album alles einmal durchdefiniert, was damals (und heute ja irgendwie auch noch) groß und toll war. Herr Sweeten fühlt sich dabei ganz klar eher Vince Clarke verpflichtet als irgendjemand anderem, was die Tracks alle sehr angenehm macht, das Sounddesign ganz klar positioniert und damit ganz spielerisch aus dem Himmel zu uns hinabsteigt. Tag. Gesungen wird hier viel und gerne, immer durch den Vocoder und das wäre dann auch mein einziger Kritikpunkt, weil diesen speziellen Vocoder, den kennt man gut und ich zumindest habe ein bisschen zu viel von ihm, vor allem in so einer bestimmten Einstellung. Naja. Viel wichtiger ist aber, dass die eigentlich Songs gut sind und nicht so halbgares Zeug. Je tiefer man in das Album einsteigt, desto besser werden die Tracks obendrein. 4/5

Vital, UK. October 2003.
Over the years that Suction now exists it remains a small label. Their releases are mainly centered around the label's own bands, Lowfish and Solvent, but occassionally they come up with another band, like The Mitgang Audio. Of course an one-man band, being this time Ray Sweeten, who nows lives in Brooklyn, NYC and who apperentely works for Sesame Street and who is a member of The Plantains, a synthpop / multimedia-performance band. With his debut album he comes up with something that is strangely enough perfect for Suction Records, but at the same time is also something different. It has electro, robotic pop classics like we would expect from Suction, but also an electronic baroq piece in the form of 'The Escape'. The baroqy Italian style also comes back in no less then four of the seven songs which are sung in Italian: Ray Sweeten lived in Italy for two years, so go figure. Sweeten takes his inspiration from the golden age of electronic popmusic (early 80s in pieces like 'Minor Causes', 'Binary Life' or the early Depeche Mode inspired 'Tokyo Scope'), but it's much more - a track like 'Forme' shows his interest in Giorgio Moroder and the ambient pieces are likewise 70s inspired. The ten tracks on this CD are one varied bunch and it makes this record enjoyable from beginning to end. Quirky uptempo pieces next to songs filled sadness, like 'Passenger Perspective'. It's the various styles of electronica that makes this into a highly inspired debut album - a true blast. Each track is great and there isn't a single boring moment. Given the right promotion and attention, this has classic stamped all over it.

FdW