This is the first album from Ronnie Martin (the brother of Starflyer 59’s
Jason Martin), being Joy Electric, released in 1994. Though this might not be a
great record or something, it’s still quite essential stuff for the people who
are truly interested in the history of Christian Alternative Music. Joy Electric
was one of the very first synth-pop-groups in the scene, and it’s hard to
believe that it’s all done by just one person, Ronnie Martin, who has been in
several synth-pop-groups before he started Joy Electric as a project. With this
record and all the other EP’s and full-lengths he released and certainly the
start-up of the formal T&N-imprint-label Plastiq Musiq, he created a small
but devoted fan-base. I think he deserves respect because he chose to stand
apart from all the hype’s in dance-music and stayed true to his own style,
though that style changed a bit through the years. The whole record is filled
with bleeps, static keyboards and the slow, kinda childish singing of Ronnie
Martin. It’s weird as can be, but don’t under-estimate this music, because
as easy as it might sound, it’s still very difficult because it has been done
only by analog synthesizers and it’s quite a lo-fi-recording. Recommended if
you’re looking for something else to put in your stereo. But with the warning
that’s it’s really weird stuff.
Karel
Smouter