Joakim's Milky Ways

You might know Joakim from his 2007 album, Monsters and Silly Songs and it's fusion of disco, post-punk and pop that became a bit of a cult-classic. You might also know Joakim from his laundry list of remixes for everyone from Cut Copy and Simian Mobile Disco to Annie and Royksopp. Or, you might also know Joakim from his years behind the scenes of Parisian record label, Tigersushi where the lines between avant garde, pop music, dance music, and post punk were all blurred. Not sure? Not sure if you've even heard of him before? One thing is for sure, whatever or wherever you might know about him prepare to heave it out the window because after listening to his latest album, Milky Ways everything you thought you knew about him will be wrong.

Milky Ways is a strange adventure in sound that takes the avant garde and manipulates it in all kinds of ways. From noisy incoherence, to ambient landscapes, and disco barn burners, Joakim loves enveloping himself in all sorts of sounds and proves himself adept at doing all sorts of cool things with them. Whether he throws it down on the dance floor or sounds like he's using a metallic jack hammer guitar, Joakim writes intriguing songs that your ears can't help but perk up for. How he can take something that should give you a headache and manage to make it melodic is beyond me and he does it on more than one occasion, see, "Back to Wilderness," for a perfect example of how this happens.

For every jackhammer migraine moment, there are moments on Milky Ways that are pure brilliance. The chilled out vibes of, "Spiders," for example, sounds like a Georgio Moroder song run through an Ibiza sunset. It's lush with just enough of a dance floor vibe to keep your feet sliding along. "Ad Me," on the other hand, is a pure house track that's jumped up and is already on the floor. The tune is upbeat and catchy and filled with a beat that will continue to resonate long after the song fades into the night.

Much of Milky Ways, in fact, is like that. This is a great record that uses it's diverse palette of sounds to paint beautiful pictures that will burn images in your mind. It's is a lush and leisurely record that's by far better than Monsters and Silly Songs. Joakim has come a long way in two years and just when you thought you knew him he throws this curve ball at you. You'll be glad he did as Milky Ways is a fantastic record of electronic bliss.