Lackluster: Alley: Data.Wave Review

The music of the Finnish artist Esa Ruoho is first of all known to the public thanks to the Lackluster project, which perfectly embodies the braindance phenomenon of the early 00s. His main opus is the album Container, emotional and quite easy-going work. Unlike his colleagues (for example Arovane aka Uwe Zahn) Esa stays true to his primordial style with clear and sincere melodies and easy drum-machine rhythm, which he demonstrated on the new album Alley. This release is Lackluster's debut on the German label Hymen Records, which has released a whole galaxy of important projects for the music scene: Gridlock, Converter, Venetian Snares, Lusine Icl, just to name a few.
Alley is straightforward and sincere as well and certainly draws the listener in. Although it becomes obvious that Lackluster acts as the last of the Mohicans, which gives him more freedom of action in this field of old school IDM music. Another undoubted advantage for the musician is the fact that he already has a huge reputation for more than one decade, so this creation can not only attract new listeners, but also awaken many veteran connoisseurs from hibernation.