Scott Hardkiss presents his album as if it were a movie, the space
on the back typically dedicated to a tracklisting instead replaced
with the credits you find on the back of DVDs. Production credits,
additional vocalists, musicians, all are featured on the back with a
"E" rating, for "Everybody Strongly Encouraged - Some material may be
too funky - Fantasy, Risque Humor, Strong Language, Sexuality, & Drug
Use." Sadly, Technicolor Dreamer just isn't as exciting as all that.
Awkward Is As Awkward Does
The album opens with an echoed and distorted choir of female voices, then drops into one of the only entertaining cuts, "Come On, Come On." Even this track meanders on, aiming for pop but landing somewhere in chill album territory. Most of the album aims high but falls short, tracks like "Hey Deejay!" (cheesy "Rapper's Delight" style funk track) and "Star Power" (bassy and funky track with annoying pitched-up rap vocals) being absolute messes. "The Underwater Ball" goes for sounding like Prince, something I get within the first few seconds, but Hardkiss just doesn't pull it off. Classic Prince songs, which is what Hardkiss was going for, always exude something like pure sex that this cut is just too awkward to emulate. "What We Got" is just as awkward with crazy deep vocals that I just can't get into, especially on top of that funk arrangement.The Next Step
I think what does the album in is the production quality. I realize that the "Do It Yourself" approach is both noble and sometimes greatly pays off, but I think having another head in this production could have tightened up a lot of aspect of the album and created something more polished and less cheesy. Hardkiss has some good ideas but they just didn't come across well. "You're the Star" is a good example of this, being way too repetitious to make full use of the Daft Punk-styled arrangement. Another example lie in the beats on his dancier tracks, like "It Comes From Up Above." The bass distorts the way the beats come out, changing the idea from a four-to-the-floor pop track to waves of uncomfortability. "You & I" tries the hardest, but the vocals are not delivered well. The track itself yearns for Rom Com soundtrack, and I admire Hardkiss' effort there, but again, another head involved with these tracks may have yielded a better result.Summary
Technicolor Dreamer verges on being a nightmare, saved only by a few minutes of interesting musical accomplishment. Still, there isn't a whole lot of replay value on the album. I hope that Hardkiss can take some of his good ideas and work with another producer to pull the best possible result from those ideas, because I would like to hear that.Released August 2009 on God Within Records.
