Entry 276 - w u s o 命 - Lonely Streets

 

This is the final wuso record that I was hoping would be pressed. Between this, You'll Be Okay I Promise, and Hold It Together three of my favorite dreampunk albums have been put to wax.

Wuso's style is self dubbed cinematic dreampunk and I tend to agree. The music has a strong visual quality to it, it feels like you are taking part in a soundtrack or a visual soundscape.

While Lonely Streets is not as strong as Hold It Together it's still a strong entry into wuso's catalog. It's the album where he found his sound. The combination of low base tones to guide a more distant melody all seen through the hazy fog of a city at night all began here... at least for wuso.

So much of this album is how the melodies build into crescendo's that never truly explode. Rather there is a tension that builds and slowly releases between tracks. As the album progresses this expand and release concept is explored through different ways and I find it incredibly fascinating to listen to.

So much of dreampunk is painting a picture through music. Wuso does this throughout the album, balancing the urban instruments and melodies with the dreamlike ambient backing tones. It still blows my mind that he was 16 or 17 when this album came out.

While this album is not nearly as good as some of the albums that would come after it, Lonely Streets is an important album for me to have in my collection. It was one of the first albums that really clicked with me in the genre. I'm glad that it got the treatment it deserved.