Alpinestars - B.A.S.I.C. (2000)

With a sound reminiscent of Air, but with more focused pop sensibilities, Alpinestars inject a bit of robotic, Kraftwerk-like pleasure into the world of electronic chill-out music. "77 Sunset Strip" would sound right at home as the B-side to Air's "Sexy Boy"; it seems to be a less goofy cousin to that song. Much of the rest of B.A.S.I.C strays from the cheesy stylings of Air, a fact that might excite any music fan who's enamored of Air but finds their music a bit too close to disco. Some songs, such as "Hyper Hyper" bring to mind the mid-'90s work of Bernard Sumner and Johnny Marr in their Electronic guise. "Size 9" sounds remarkably like New Order's "Ceremony," almost to the point of mimicry, though Alpinestars certainly don't plunder the depths of emotion inside "Ceremony." "Keep It Coming" is an organic, dark pleasure, where gurgling keyboards suggest a struggle between watery, acoustic musical forms and buzzing, controlled chaos. Most of the songs on B.A.S.I.C are instrumental, and when vocals are introduced, they're relatively processed, clean, and quiet in the mix, so as not to interfere with the keyboards. The only real knock on the album is that the band treads a little bit too close to Air. It's quite hard not to hear Air's "Kelly Watch the Stars" in Alpinestars' "Arianne." The band seems perfectly capable of going their own route, so why they'd choose to mine the work of their contemporaries is perplexing. At turns haunting and cheesy, but always organic and austere, B.A.S.I.C is a successful full-length debut for Alpinestars.