Based out of Moscow, Russian producer Maxim Palchikov released his third album, Saturn Soul, maintaining his unique sound of synthesizer mixed with a fast paced afrobeat. While easy to tap your foot along to while daydreaming or add to a late night study playlist, this album doesn’t do more than provide an easy but pretty forgettable listening experience. Straight jamz can draw a crowd, but without a deep-felt beat or bass line, Palchikov’s music is left lacking a major draw, especially with a lack of lyrics. One definitely finds redeemable qualities to his sounds in terms of uniqueness and musicality; those elements are present, but at the album’s conclusion the listener is left wondering what else is out there. In comparison to today’s EDM, Saturn Soul could be labeled as “elevator music.” With that in mind, “The Quiz” and “Washed Out” will get you about as amped up as a half cup of coffee; close but not quite. Fortunately, as Cheap Treasure is a relatively new musical experiment, one can hope to hear more well-rounded albums in the years to come.
Recommended If You Like: The Juan Maclean, Poolside, Todd Terje
Recommended Tracks: 2 (Saturn Soul), 4 (The Quiz), 10 (Washed Out)
Do Not Play: None
Written by Sophia Fortmeyer on 10/13/2016
