TROPICAL HEAT

Easily ASHRA's weakest album. Released in 1991, "Tropical Heat" is a compilation of compositions initially recorded in 1986-1987. These for sure does not sound like their former records. The band tries to mix their style with "tropical" elements and the worst mid-80's electronic sounds. This record is harder to understand when you know Manuel Göttsching composed such innovative and avant-garde albums like "New Age of Earth" and the influencal "E2-E4", just 5 years earlier.

The opening "Mosquito Dance" is one of the rare pleasant passage of the record. It's a relaxing and charming soft tune with a dynamic rythm and joyful melody. On the contrary, The title track have no particular tropical feel, but sounds terribly dated and uninspired, as it contains many of the synth clichés of this period. Where's my ASHRA? "Pretty Papaya" is the only composition by Manuel Göttsching. Not really pretty, this is a dated 80's synth tune trying to sound exotic.

"Nights In Sweat" is a missed attempt at including jazz samples. With its awful beats and disjointed melody, this track is barely listenable. In the same style, "Don't Stop The Fan" is just slightly better. "Monsoon" concludes the record with an hawaiian-like guitar. A peaceful tune, not bad but not good either.

Reworking this rather uninspired dated mid-80's material was not a good idea. Releasing it during the beginning of the 90's, a period that gave birth to a new generation of electronic artists, was even worse. Few rare enjoyable moments, I recommend to skip to other albums of ASHRA.