When it comes to bringing a laptop to a psych show, Al Lover gives no fucks. “Everyone likes Suicide, I feel like I’m kinda like them in a way, the dude at the guitar show with electronic exclusively.”
Plugging in the Macbook and Ableton offers limited performance. He’s fully aware he’s not much to look at and always tries to keep visuals in the background for added effect. It might not offer the full experience of a live band, but his live work is not entirely automated. “There’s no push play and point to the sky, as if I’m a DJ god commanding the crown with the drop of the bass.”
“Fuck that,” he added.
Like Martin Rev and Alan Vega, Al Lover is drifting towards more hardware in the recordings. It’s a process he’s explored since the release of Sacred Drugs last year. Two records later, Zodiak Versions finds him fully immersed in psych as a coveted member on the Reverberation Appreciation Society roster. Zodiak Versions is his marriage of a previous life in loop digging and his awakening in psychedelia. The rhythmic drone emulates his sample-based origins, but this time fed through the inspiration of German krautrock and motorik while experimentations recorded with Burnt Ones give the record that human element. Despite the knowledge obtained in songwriting applied to this record, he maintains that “the songs that I’ve ‘written’ on the new album are one chord wonders, which is all good with me.”
“I like when electronic music adds the human element. I also like things ugly and sloppy.”
Purchase Al Lover’s Zodiak Versions on vinyl at Reverberation Appreciation Society.
