Earthsuit - The Rise of Modern Simulation
a review by Aaron Saraco

And yet, somehow, this new CD absolutely blows it away. The phrase "sophomore slump" has absolutely no place in a review of this CD, except as an antithesis. It's hard not to imagine Earthsuit falling into a sophomore slump after the uniqueness of Kaleidoscope Superior, but... this is the exact opposite. In fact, it's not only the exact opposite of a sophomore slump; it makes you quiver by its greatness.

It's The Rise of Modern Simulation, Earthsuit's second and final CD. Yes, final. That fact has never hit me harder than it's hitting me now, mere hours after hearing the CD. It's almost tragic that this isn't a full album. You see, Earthsuit left their label, Sparrow Records (which released Kaleidoscope Superior), a year or two ago, and this album was in the works. Plans varied; it was possible that their second album would never be released. Then, a few months ago, the band announced that they would split up, into two bands: Macrosick, headed by Adam LaClave, and Math, headed by Paul Meany and Darren King. Apparently, the collaborative writing process wasn't working as well as it used to. To sum up their reasoning, LaClave & Meany had so many good ideas on their own that they had a hard time putting them together into definitive Earthsuit songs. Several songs that were most likely in the works for this album, such as "Nothing's on the Radio", will be salvaged into the Macrosick and Math projects. And whatever was just too Earthsuit-y to divide was placed on this CD. This is why it only has 5 brand new songs.
But these 5 songs are absolute gold. You may have been lucky enough to hear "1-2-3" before, since it was released in MP3 form this past January 2nd (01-02-03, get it?). You may have been even more lucky and heard "Noise For Your Eyes" and "Bloodshot Fanatical" performed live. They've been doing these songs for 2 years... so you can imagine what a long wait this has been. ...2 years long, even.
Remember "Sky Flashings", the final track of Kaleidoscope Superior? I'd say "Bloodshot Fanatical", "Nightfall", and "Noise For Your Eyes" are in this general mode. Now, "Sky Flashings" was a very interesting and different track on the first CD, but it was never quite my favorite. (Saying a song isn't your favorite song on that CD is not saying anything bad, of course.) If you loved "Sky Flashings", you'll probably love these songs even more. If you didn't love "Sky Flashings", you'll still probably love these songs. The creepy, haunting sound works amazingly well with these new songs, ultimately making for a very different Earthsuit sound that tops their old sound. And it's a little more cohesive, too. As if Earthsuit wasn't already successful at blending different styles, they've somehow become even more refined. "1-2-3" hearkens back to their old style a little bit more with a more upbeat sound, while "Foreign" is really quirky and.... lovable. And the drums on every track are AMAZING.

It's purely breathtaking. Kaleidoscope Superior was an interesting album that grew on you, and after a few listens, was one of the most brilliant things you've ever heard. The Rise of Modern Simulation mops the floor with it. It rocks your head off, knocks you down, and leaves you lying on the ground, open-mouthed, staring at the sunset and begging for more. And if the sun doesn't happen to be setting when you listen to it, just keep listening again and again until it does.
I know that the first time I listened to it, I was thoroughly excited. As I, unable to resist, listened to it one or two more times, I simply couldn't do anything else. The world was a different place.

It's quite clearly the best CD you can buy this year. Don't miss it. Don't let the online stuff and mail stuff scare you away. Don't miss out on this album which, if completed, probably would have been the greatest album ever made. And believe me, as an avid music fan and occasional composer, I don't take that statement lightly.

It's a wonderful album. It's a beautiful farewell. And it just might make you cry.

But that's somehow not all. There are a whopping 11 bonus tracks. Most of them are studio recordings of covers and remixes. There are 2 live tracks, recorded amazingly well. There are 3 drum solos from Hutch, the "old" drummer (as in, the Kaleidoscope Superior days). Then there's "Millennium", a fantastic demo song that didn't make it onto Kaleidoscope Superior. And "Gummy Buffalo", a song that was never really intended for release, but is indeed a very good studio recording. There's also a studio version of the instrumental outro medley that they played at a few concerts. And a secret track. And 5 pieces of live concert footage, some behind-the-scenes tour footage, and a claymation video. The video and sound quality generally isn't too high, but considering the album itself takes up 56 minutes, there wasn't much room left for really high-quality stuff, and it probably wasn't even possibly to get really high-quality versions of it. In any case, it's all very nice.

10/10

ALBUM TRACKS
1-2-3	First off, a disclaimer about this review: It will inevitably sound less enthusiastic than my reviews of the other songs, because this track has been out, in its present form, for a year now. But anyway, it's a great, fun, upbeat song to kick off the CD. The bass is killer, as usual, and Paul does some great rapping in the bridge section. It's the most traditional Earthsuit song on the album, and possibly the one that's been in development the longest ("Noise For Your Eyes" could possibly hold that record). Oh, and for anyone who's heard the new P.O.D. song "Execute the Sounds" and is wondering what the deal is... Paul Meany explained that the "1-2-3" thing has been a staple of the hip-hop scene for quite some time now, so P.O.D. did not rip off Earthsuit.
Bloodshot Fanatical	Haunting melodies and eerie chords creep along gradually (but not in a boring way) to a truly awesome climax 2 minutes in, when the guitar gets heavy and the bass does some really interesting stuff. And that part of the song only occurs once in that form -- the next recurrence of this bridge, which I usually think of as the chorus, is layered over some really freaky electronic stuff and cool changes in the drum beats. It's one of the most oddly structured Earthsuit songs yet, and it's quite... tasty. It's an experience.
Foreign	Quirky is the word for this song. It's got something of an old-school Earthsuit feel, but undeniably different. The quick guitar chords are really catchy and... there's definitely quite a groove going on here. Paul does some more effortlessly amazing rapping on this track, while Adam sings the catchy bridge, and the lyrics are very interesting. And this song, once again, has a great climax.
Nightfall	The peak of Earthsuit's new "haunting" sound. This song is simply beautiful. If it doesn't send chills up your spine, you need to see a chiropractor. It's pretty hard to describe, really. You just have to hear it. It begins with a symphony of synthesizers and... Seriously, I can't think of anything to say about this one. It's like a haunting winter melody that follows you through your dreams.
Noise For Your Eyes	And we close off the "new album" portion with the song that's been played at countless concerts... and yet it still sounds fresh here. I've wanted to hear a studio version of this for a long time. As with several other songs on the CD -- or even better than the rest of them -- it manages to build up to a climax and still stay incredibly interesting throughout. Just when you think you've heard every direction the song has to go in, a crazy guitar riff explodes in your ears and makes you submit to its majesty. Believe me, it's every bit as great here as it is in concert. There's a lot of rapping on this one, and as usual, it's all really good and catchy and memorable.
BONUS TRACKS
The Hard Drive	12 seconds of Darren (if I heard correctly), the most recent Earthsuit drummer, singing about God punishing someone for not backing up his hard drive. Not much to say here except: @_@
Against the Grain Remix + Where's Your Head At?(Live)	This is the alternate version they've been doing since 2002 or so. It's got a more quirky bassline and a more haunting, tempo-changed chorus, more in line with their new stuff. At the end, it goes into a mini-cover of "Where's Your Head At?" (The Basement Jaxx) and then the bass, guitars, and sound effects rock out insanely. Very interesting. And perfectly recorded. It practically sounds like a studio recording; you can hear all the insanity quite clearly.
Hutch Buggin 1	David Hutchinson, the Kaleidoscope Superior drummer, experiments with the drums on top of some synthesized African & Cuban-type beats, unaware that someone pressed the record button. Interesting stuff, especially if you're a drummer.
Man Machine/Said the Sun	A studio practice session of the cover/remix they've been doing at concerts (Kraftwerk's "Man Machine" blended into a remix of Earthsuit's "Said the Sun to the Shine"). Really cool stuff -- not just the blending of the songs, but the alternate take on "Said the Sun". It's more suited to concerts than the original version is, which is probably why they felt they had to do the re-vamp. The electric guitar works quite nicely in the bridge.
Millennium	This one really surprised me. It's a demo song that didn't make it onto Kaleidoscope Superior. Apparently it was written to celebrate the new millennium in some way, and I guess it just didn't flow well with the rest of the album or something. What a pleasant surprise -- it's just about as good as one of the new songs! It certainly has the same haunting feel to it. To be sure, the new stuff still blows it away, but this is really good too, and shows that they were looking to move in this direction for quite some time. It's too bad it never got to be completely professionally recorded. It still sounds really good, though.
This and That (Live, featuring Playdough of Ill Harmonics)	A live cover of "This and That" by the Black Sheep. A fun take on the old-school rap song. At the end it briefly goes into "Cool Like That" (I don't know the artist on that one). I guess there's not much more to say about it. It's cool stuff. Oh, and once again, it's a fantastic live recording.
Hutch Buggin 2	Like #1, but with Darren playing a synthesizer.
Once in a Lifetime	Studio practice session of the Talking Heads cover that Earthsuit did for a while. Well-recorded, well-done, etc. ...yes, I do have a hard time doing write-ups of the cover songs.
Gummy Buffalo	A song with a funny story behind it. It's based on a dream Paul had. Read all about it in the liner notes. It's a demo recording, apparently never intended for release. Very interesting. I'd say this is what a Paul Meany solo album would sound like (featuring Adam LaClave of Earthsuit!). It's hip-hop oriented.
Hutch Buggin 3	Ditto.
Outro Medley	A very nice practice session recording of a medley that Earthsuit used to do at the end of their concerts. I don't recognize most of the songs used here (except for The Verve's "Bittersweet Symphony" at the end), but it's a nice listen anyway. It's mostly instrumental, with some samples and occasional LaClave vocals thrown in.
hidden track	Adam LaClave picks up an acoustic guitar and imitates Creed-era singers with a song about Potassium. Hilarious.