Zorya by Floex
LABEL: Minority Records

If I had to single out one composer who managed to fuse the oftentimes at-odds worlds of the organic and electronic into one tremendous, gorgeous sum it would be Tomas Dvorak, the man behind Floex and the exceptional soundtracks to Amanita Design’s flash games. This point is driven home finely on Dvorak’s solo follow up, Zorya. With this in mind, let’s leave aside Dvorak as a composer and focus on Floex the project, as the two, oddly, have very different styles.

On Pocustone, Floex’s sound was distinct in its combination of jazz and classical with contemporary, emotional electronic music on the plane of Lusine, Fennesz, Autechre, and Brian Eno. While successful in terms of sound, the album had a hard time keeping the flow going and the energy waned where it needed to pick up. With 2011’s Zorya, Dvorak has taken his experience at telling stories through sound with his Amanita game scoring and kept everything a lot smoother, tighter, and dynamic. The album has all the right pacing and rarely falters.

This time around Floex focuses even more on the inherent qualities found within acoustic instruments, namely the piano and clarinet, and how they interact in an environment of electronics and digital manipulation. Unlike many artists who cut their performances to pieces for that extra digital touch, Floex preserves these instruments and allows them to take the front, bouncing against a bed of electronics. This takes the emphasis away from sound design, something Floex is a master at as well, and puts it on songwriting. Overall, Dvorak is becoming a better writer.

There has always been a rather whimsical, mythical element to Floex’s music, and Zorya is probably the best example of that side of his work. The songs are energetic, genuine, passionate, and full of heart. True to form, Floex defies classification. His respect and adherence to jazz, classical and electronic music doesn’t focus on one over the other, and it’s refreshing to hear an artist who isn’t self-conscious about his designation within musical categories. Dvorak just makes incredible music. Period. And Zorya feels like the culmination of his vision for the sound of Floex.

Minority Records out of the Czech Republic is thankfully releasing Zorya on both CD this month and vinyl LP in November. For any lover of great music without baggage, ego or labels, this is an essential album to pick up this year and well-worth the shipping. While you’re at it, tack on the Machinarium album. That paired with Zorya make an excellent representation of the range in Tomas Dvorak’s work.


REVIEWED BY NEIL LEVENS
NEILS FAVORITE TRACKS: “Ursa Major” • “Petr Parler” • “Mecholup”

FREE MP3: “Ursa Major”

++ Groovemine’s AudioFile of Tomas “Floex” Dvorak w/ podcast interview