Today was a day that I wanted to listen to something completely different. I wake up with that in my head quite often. I also wanted to show some love to the London music scene. So it was time to travel overseas (through the internet) to find some music that stood out for its originality. I was introduced to Vaiflo through an interesting profile picture and the promise of multiple genres mixing to create something completely original.
Vaiflo and I had the similar experience of discovering music early in life through our mothers singing to the songs of the day around the house. His love for music only grew from there and he taught himself to play keyboards, as well as guitar and bass. He got involved in the punk and post rock scene early to develop his performance chops and later got involved in the rave and afterhours scene to share his exotic mix of genres. He has no fear to mix genres that you would never picture together. When I read through the long list of his influences I picked out The Police, Bad Religion, Aphex Twin, Madness, and 2Pac to showcase the diversity in his inspiration.
His latest release is V1 which is already available on iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify, is an experimental record that draws a lot from his days in the rave scene. The 9 song collection is difficult to place into any one category but I believe that is exactly what Vaiflo was going for. From the opening song ‘Adaption (Intro)’ you know you are in store for something interesting. The drowned 808 drumbeat and fuzzed out sounds are fair warning to open your senses and get ready for an experience. The lead single off the record is ‘Time To Begin’, a spooky yet warm track that includes a variety of sounds not normally heard in any one song. The unintelligible vocals only add to the spookiness of the track. It has some taste of an Aphex Twin track. The beginning of ‘When We Were Kids With No Future’ sounds like it could be the open to the next Brittany Spears track. Vaiflo quickly dismisses that inclination by creating a sonic landscape that starts to control your mind and forces your head to sway. In ‘Smash Your TV’ he continues the spooky vocal sounds with a straight rock drumbeat to create a song that could go in so many different directions. His punk background is heard here. As with many of Vaiflo’s songs, as soon as you start to get entranced by one melody he changes it up to grab your attention.
Bottom Line: Vaiflo’s V1 is a great record for those open to mind expansion and exploring the depths of where music can take you. Prepare yourself mentally and then go listen for yourself at: