City Newspaper: Rochester, NY

Review
by Saby Reyes-Kulkarni

Fans of Gil Mantera and his creative partner Ultimate Donny's goofy, suggestive live show might be surprised by how this album presents the same type of material but reveals the duo's tender side. Like their concerts, Bloodsongs is built on kitschy synth dance beats. But Mantera and Donny capture delicate emotions and colorful sounds in their songs as if they were butterfly catchers roaming the jungles of new wave and techno trashpop. They do a fine job, too, making optimal use of melody, texture, and lyrics that come across a little differently when Donny is wearing a funny suit and a shit-eating grin and the audience is bouncing up and down to the beat looking for a little mindless dance-floor fun. Booming PA systems can flatten Mantera's music into a monotonic thumping pulse, but Bloodsongs shows the pair's range via spacious, refined mixes and songs that vary quite nicely from one to the next.