Introduction
Ergo Phizmiz – Some Folk Can
Artist: Ergo Phizmiz
Title / Release Page: Some Folk Can
Release Date: 2014 Sept 19
Genre: Electro Pop
License: CC BY-NC-SA
Media: MP3
Pricing: Free / Donation
Label: FMA
Rating: ★★★★★★★★
Ergo Phizmiz is no stranger here on The CerebralRift. This will be the ninth article I’ve dedicated to writing about his musical flights of fancy. On Some Folk Can Ergo continues his exploration of electro-mechanical pop music as only he can. Personally, I think Ergo Phizmiz should be his own genre, and after listening to this release I think you will agree.
Some Folk Can
The first thing that sets Some Folk Can apart from anything else you are likely to listen to is the instrumentation. Glockenspiel, toy drums, tiny (toy?) electric guitar, ukelele, toy piano, assorted percussion instruments, and more inhabit the soundscape of this recording.
For all purposes the listener isn’t likely to get that a lot of what they are hearing is actually computer manipulated sounds. To put it in Ergo’s own words:
…”Some Folk Can” sees Ergo Phizmiz blur and toy with the boundaries and blurred lines of acoustic and computer music.
And blur the lines he does exceptionally well on this recording. The best way I can think of describe the music on this release is: a group of extremely gifted toddlers performing sophisticated arrangements of pop songs ranging from the 1950’s to the 1980’s. There is a joyousness in these pieces, the kind of creativity that kids exhibit because they don’t know the rules, they only know that they can create anything their mind allows them to create. That’s the kind of music that is on this recording.
And, that’s fitting to how I see a lot of Ergo’s works coming together. He is able to tap into his inner child, ignore the boundaries and conventions because who cares about them? He just starts tinkering and experimenting, maybe playing with something he’s already done until it’s unrecognizable and then finding that new thing, that little thing that clicks and takes his exploration into new, uncharted territory.
Conclusion
I sometimes wonder if Ergo is infallible. Seriously, everything that he releases has something new and interesting in it. The day he starts repeating himself is the day I will get worried that he has grown up. But until that time comes, I will be happy listening to releases like Some Folk Can. I will let it bring a smile to my lips, and find myself waxing nostalgic for the childhood that I don’t think I will be able to find again (maybe when I get a few years older I can regress and recover the childhood that I’ve misplaced along the way). At least for now I can feel my inner child again listening to Ergo’s work.
