Pop & Hiss exclusive: Boom Bip reveals ‘Zig Zaj’ inspirations
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Ever wonder what songs were buzzing through an artist’s head before he finally created a recipe to make his own? It’s a common question that’s especially pertinent in the realm of Boom Bip’s blatantly eclectic style of electro. For the last decade, Boom Bip mastermind Bryan Hollon has gained a reputation for reformatting his musical approach, working it through a lathe of creative ambition that can leave us either very appreciative or very confused.
In many ways, Boom Bip’s full-length effort ‘Zig Zaj’ seems par for the course. Encompassing a variety of ambient and in-your-face approaches, the album (released Tuesday on Lex Records) is flooded with strokes of harsh electronica, solemn jazz and New Wave that don’t always sound as if they belong on the same track list. Luckily, Hollon has broken his influences down in very distinct fashion for us on his exclusive ‘Album Parallels Mix,’ a handpicked mix of songs by artists that inspired ‘Zig Zaj.’
‘This mix has been selected by the similarity in tone and placed in order corresponding to the tracks on the album,’ Hollon said in a statement accompanying the mix.
For example, the sweeping string arrangements of ‘Sailing By’ by British composer Ronald Binge could easily stretch to fit over Boom Bip’s track ‘All Hands’ as if they were meant to be there. It’s a sonic sentiment that carries throughout the mix with songs from artists as varied as the Surfaris, Muluqen Mellesse and Depeche Mode. And the rumbling drum line on Boom Bip’s ‘Manabozh’ is definitely a goth-inspired relative to the Human League track ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll.’
Hollon’s route through so many different types of sonic terrain makes us all the more interested to see how his ‘Zig Zaj’ tracks will materialize in a live setting when the L.A.-based artist swings by the Eagle Rock Music Festival for a performance on the ‘Emerging’ stage at 8 p.m. Saturday.
Check out a stream of Boom Bip’s ‘Album Paralells Mix’ with the full track listing below.
Album Parallels Mix-Boom Bip by natejackson
Tracklist (parallel Boom Bip tracks follow dashes):
1. Ronald Binge ‘Sailing By’ / Robert Wyatt ‘Mister E’ -- ‘All Hands’
2. Muluqen Mellesse ‘Djemeregne’ -- Goodbye Lovers & Friends
3. The Surfaris ‘Point Panic’ -- ‘Pele’
4. Factory Floor ‘Lying’ -- ‘Do As I Do’
5. Cluster ‘Fotschi Tong’ -- ‘Reveal’
6. Human League ‘Rock ‘N’ Roll/Night Clubbing’ -- ‘Manabozh’
7. Bauhaus ‘Third Uncle’ -- ‘New Order’
8. Depeche Mode ‘Nothing to Fear’ -- ‘Automaton’
9. Gas ‘Konigsforst’ -- ‘Tumtum’
10. Boards of Canada ‘Everything You Do Is a Balloon’ -- ‘Mascot and the Moth’
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-- Nate Jackson
