ALBUM REVIEW: Not Everybody Makes It – Mark Solotroff

Multi-instrumentalist and electronica curator MARK SOLOTROFF releases his latest solo album Not Everybody Makes It on July 30th. A collection of distorted, eerie gallimaufries of sound, it most likely won’t make sense to a lot of music fans.

You’d either have to be into horror movie soundtracks, performance art or just noise experimentation in general for this record to tug at any heart strings. But it seems like this is not Solotroff’s desired outcome anyway for this piece of work. As an already renowned practitioner in the field of electronic and alternative music, this record is another showcase of his experimentation abilities, his profound semantics and his respect for noise.

Each track is exactly 10 minutes in length and, for the music fan that isn’t into this sort of thing, it probably won’t feel like there is much difference between them. For others that like to delve deeper into the algorithms of noise however, there is perhaps a ton of meaning to unpack. Each track has been given a unique subtitle to supplement their already mysterious titles, and so it is clear Solotroff intends to create a story through his experimental endeavours. His previous work has focused on the superhuman influence of digital domination, and so this record could be viewed as a study of sound; how humans control digitalisation and in turn how it controls us. 

Solotroff has explained that his synthesized soundscapes represent movement, and this latest release was recorded during the global pandemic; a time when people have experienced loss and uncertainty, and so have had to keep looking forward. Certain tracks such as Suffering Sun and Attention to Self both embody a melancholy, painful aura but are also both driven by different tempos that suggest movement, and finding a new direction to follow. Tracks such as Spatial Unrest and Return to Pleasure suggest a more grounded position rather than movement. They seem to indicate a point where time has slowed down, creating space for recovery and reflection.

The way the listener perceives Not Everybody Makes It can be described by its own title. Not everybody may make meaning from it. Not everybody may get it. But what can be said is that Solotroff’s ear for sound is more unique than most. A listen to this record may inspire a new way of thinking and appreciating noise; a ponder into the authenticity of sound regarding what we consider to be music. Or, it may have no affect on you whatsoever. That’s the beauty of artistry and its audience, and we’re sure Solotroff would agree.

Rating: 6/10

Not Everybody Makes It is out now via self-release.

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