PHARMA (2017) - ALBUM REVIEW
- Jess
- May 29, 2020
- 4 min read
American producer Alex Koenig, also known as Nmesh (among many other aliases) has been making experimental electronic music since 2001. When the genre of vaporwave sprang up in the early 2010’s, his work would find a larger audience within it. Pharma is one of Alex’s more popular albums, and his third major release under the name of Nmesh. Among other vaporwave releases and even in the wider experimental electronic scene, Nmesh has a very distinctive sound.
Pharma’s prominent use of TV, radio, and film clips (both old and new) settles it nicely into the vaporwave subgenre of signalwave (additionally known as ‘broken transmission’). As well as these signalwave features and classic eccojams sounds typically associated with vaporwave, the album takes influences from many other genres – such as drum n’ bass, hip-hop, ambient, and more. This variety makes for a vastly more interesting overall listen as the music shifts between these different styles.
Most signalwave releases are quite chaotic, and/or don’t have a lot of musical structure. Pharma certainly channels the disarray, but the album is in fact very musical – I like to describe Nmesh’s sound as “compositions of organized chaos.” The instrumentation on the album is equally balanced with the spoken samples, and the two elements are worked together very harmoniously. At times Pharma is full of energy: with the instrumentation brash and loud and the samples wracked – this demonstrates it’s sheer chaotic aspect. At it’s more ambient points though, the album’s sound is more relaxed with fewer layers of noise. Pharma constantly shifts between these two points throughout it's runtime, and there are even these drastic shifts within the tracks themselves. BΛSS///COP™ is a great example of this – the track begins upbeat and energetic, then slows halfway through to a sluggish pace. The percussion on Pharma is extremely tight, and sets the pace for each track amazingly – this is probably thanks to Nmesh’s background as a heavy metal drummer. All these features come together to make Pharma a very dynamic album from start to finish.
Pharma has drugs as its central theme. Samples of old-school drug PSA’s are scattered all through the album, along with drug-themed dialogue and an overall trippy sound. The album does indeed feel structured like a trip – with the beginning being the high, and later on going into the comedown. All the dynamic musical elements I’ve mentioned come together to create this psychedelic vibe - the eccojams techniques along with the squashing, stretching and pitch-shifting of the dialogue samples.
Another aspect of Pharma’s tone I find particularly interesting is how it presents subtle horror. Parts of the album feel very sinister – Acid Baby is the peak of this; PBS Ancillary Rack Room is another good case. At points the album gets very dark, and more oppressive and unsettled feelings creep over the listener. However, I find none of this is to a point where the album could be considered a ‘horror album’. I find it more like a distant sense of dread - it’s quite an uncanny feeling. The horror element adds another very interesting layer of depth to Pharma, and gives something more for the listener to reflect on, both during and after they listen.
BΛSS///COP™ is a brilliant example of a track that demonstrates all the points I have made. It starts off quick and upbeat, with vocal samples reminiscent of a gospel choir. The track carries on: introducing fast, groovy percussion that becomes chopped up along the way. A new sampled voice enters the track, and the pace keeps while this widening collection of voices are stretched and reversed. Then the track slows and all instrumentation comes to a halt, as a new dialogue sample is presented – it sounds like some lines from an amateur school PSA. The instrumentation starts up again, but this time much more ambient. The pace of the track totally shifts to become slothful, as a slight sinister feeling begins to draw over. More distorted voices are presented, before the track breaks up – the sound of a woman crying for help chopped up and nestled among erratic drum beats. She cries out once more before the track swells in volume and concludes suddenly.
This track is probably my personal favourite on the album - it displays all the elements that make the whole of Pharma a great listen, and does it all in just under four minutes. BΛSS///COP™ also settles nicely between the tracks Rangdang Slapjab and Vault Maintenance 700 CMC (Black Swan Dub), which are much shorter tracks focussing more on the manipulation of non-musical samples.
To conclude, Pharma is a thrilling listen. It’s unorthodox and marvellous mixing of different sounds gives it quite an edge, and make it an excitable experience from beginning to end.
Pharma is actually a double album, with the second part being a collection of remixes. It features remixes from some other big names in the vaporwave scene such as HKE, Vaperror, and Golden Living Room just to name a few. It’s a nice accompaniment to the main album, and worth checking out afterwards. Mall Full of Drugs (Rebuilt by Humanoid) is my personal favourite of these remixes.
Listen to the main album here (Pharma is definitely worth listening to in one, rather than track by track):
And check out the remixes here:
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