(2020) Health - DISCO4 : PART I


Review:
HEALTH have a knack for collaboration. Their music, meeting at some offbeat and danceable crossroad between noise, industrial and electronic rock, pulls threads of beauty through raucous worlds. Three-quarters of the tracks on the Los Angeles outfit’s newest collaborative LP, DISCO4 :: PART I, have been released as singles over time since late 2017. But one of the most striking things about this collection is how skillfully HEALTH fit disparate artists into such a cohesive package. Take, for instance, the skittering beats and floating melodies of “MASS GRAVE” that are accented by the interplay and harmonies between Soccer Mommy bandleader Sophie Allison’s and HEALTH vocalist Jake Duzsik’s euphonic deliveries or JPEGMAFIA spitting menacing verses over eerie rhythms and atmospherics on “HATE YOU.” There’s also the 100 gecs-accompanied “POWER FANTASY,” a noisy industrial EDM mashup that builds and pounds to a brief lull before dropping into a squelching chiptune breakdown before transitioning again into high-pitched vocals and punishing electronics. If mid-album number “FULL OF HEALTH” with extreme metal mutants Full of Hell attempts to rip the earth open to swallow the listener up, the following track “COLORS,” with the Soft Moon, is their walk through the netherworld. “DELICIOUS APE,” the album’s Xiu Xiu-featuring longest song, has a dreamy and beautiful spaciousness to it. But the song ripples with a sense of unease that finds its way near the end as it lifts off and blasts forward before crash landing in some mournful realm. With only one of the twelve tracks, throbbing and glistening opener “CYBERPUNK 2.0.2.0.” being attributed exclusively to HEALTH, DISCO4 :: PART I is a wild and mesmerizing experience. HEALTH are one-of-a-kind creators who chose one-of-a-kind collaborators to accompany them on this strange sonic exploration where unique parts live in melodic, momentous harmony. One can only try to guess who PART II will bring into the fold.





Tracklist:
1. HEALTH – CYBERPUNK 2.0.2.0. [05:12]
2. HEALTH, Perturbator – BODY/PRISON [02:44]
3. HEALTH, 100 Gecs – POWER FANTASY [03:01]
4. GHOSTMANE – HEALTH, Ghostemane – JUDGEMENT NIGHT [02:00]
5. YOUTH CODE – HEALTH, Youth Code – INNOCENCE [02:32]
6. FULL OF HELL – HEALTH, Full of Hell – FULL OF HEALTH [02:16]
7. HEALTH, The Soft Moon – COLORS [04:04]
8. HEALTH, JPEGMAFIA – HATE YOU [01:48]
9. HEALTH, Brothel – D.F. LOOKS [03:09]
10. SOCCER MOMMY – HEALTH, Soccer Mommy – MASS GRAVE [03:07]
11. HEALTH, Xiu Xiu – DELICIOUS APE [05:43]
12. NO LIFE – HEALTH, NOLIFE – HARD TO BE A GOD [02:56]


Media Report:
Genre: electronic, indie-rock, industrial
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits