I am always impressed by musicians who are able to affect my mood without my realizing it. I often put on music while I'm working and sometimes it sinks into the background, flowing pleasantly on its own accord. But sometimes what I am hearing impacts what I'm doing and what I'm feeling while I'm doing it. I discovered this to be the case well listening to Paris Music Corp.’s self-titled album. John Andrew Paris, or as he prefers, Paris Music Corp., is a member of Austin's electronic music scene, integrating inspirations drawn from artists like Pink Floyd And Gary Numan into the inimitable fabric and digital ductwork of the intensive creativity network that buttresses that Lone-Star oasis. Andrew creates an incredibly brisk and aloof style of techno with subtle beats and cool, soothing tones that feel like they have erupted out of a dark but futile place, like a '90s cyber-punk graphic novel or immersive-necromancing RPG on the scale of Planescape: Torment. They are the sounds of a Bubblegum Crisis in full swing, a war for the human essence waged under webs of varicose silicon veins and within wells of clicking processors. Andrew hasn't released an album in a while which makes his recent self-titled album somewhat momentous- or at least it made my day feel that way. As I was going about the tasks that I do keep the lights, I found the liquid and disarming textures of his compositions flooding between the spaces and silences of my routine. A pleasant, energizing filament that made uneventful tasks like brewing coffee and answering emails feel vital in a way, like I was building, through these unvarying actions, towards some great crescendo- augmenting my day with an acute sense of audacious purpose. The world is structured in a way to make human beings obsolete and to write their needs out of its plan of operations. What this means for you and I, is that every day that we live is a strike against these schemes. Even small victories are a spur in the side of the hegemon. Be the glue in the gears. And listen to Paris Music Corp.
