In 2001: A Space Odyssey, supercomputer HAL 9000 sings the sentimental lyrics to "Daisy" in a room named the Logic Memory Center, a poignant scene that effectively captures HAL's mad desire to be human. Setting out to explore a purely digital mode on his 10th album with decidedly mixed results, John Tejada inadvertently shows that the ghost in the machine should speak for itself, in haunting blips and whirs.
The funky second track "Unit B1656" could be subtitled "Welcome to the Machine," as the zeros and ones add up to more than the sum of its parts with minimal, sparsely sampled vocals. Unfortunately this alluring track is placed in subordination to the lesser opener, "Strange Creatures," where Kimi Recor's robotic, flat intonation seems forced and somewhat obvious.
The weakest links on "Logic Memory Center" are human ones, as guest vocals on the opening track and "Alone With You" are delivered either stripped of emotional content or needlessly embellished with baroque flourishes; in the process, the album is diluted by these tracks' reliance on more traditional song structures. The most successful vocalist is James Figurine on "Everything Will Be OK," where he coolly intones "You're only tempting fate/ When you close your eyes and tell yourself/ That everything will be okay," an anxious existential bedtime story that comes close to mirroring HAL's own angst at becoming painfully self-aware.
The song that comes closest to realizing the creepy, vaguely threatening instability of HAL is "This Fake Place," as the feedback loops uneasily back on itself, queasy from digesting humanizing data. The effect is diluted by the following Depeche Mode-tinged "Alone With You," as we're jolted out of the moment by Carl A. Finlow's pseudo-emo lyrics.
"Logic Memory Center" ends strong with three solid dance tracks, the infectious "Inside Out," "Strive," and "Something about the Drums." Tejada seems to lose the theme towards the end but gains a solid groove. Overall, "Logic Memory Center" is a mixed bag that lacks continuity but is engaging in fits and starts. |