1.1 (Debacle, 2011) For: Kraftwerk, Aphex Twin, Megabats Byline: The finest in electro-kraut/dance Seattle has to offer? Probably. Wh...
1.1(Debacle, 2011)
For: Kraftwerk, Aphex Twin, Megabats
Byline: The finest in electro-kraut/dance Seattle has to offer? Probably.
While the current surge of ambient musicians is busy having the time exploring the infinite possibilities of tonal warping, using exciting combinations of hardware and instruments, creating patches and plugging wildly imaginative brains directly into their work to transcend the physical world altogether, Brain Fruit (the Seattle duo of Christopher Owen Davis and James Carr)... has been doing the same. But they've got a bit of an edge. You see, Brain Fruit, while having a similar knack for all things ambient, also has rhythm. The group's new album, 1.1, contains some of the more innovative beats available on compact disc this year with rolling bass throbbing along in either subtly clever rhythmic motifs (lots of 1/4-note triplets and phrasing that often extends over and across simple 4/4 bar-structures), or plodding straight ahead with that classic, ultra-satisfying motorik kraut groove. Atop that are the higher frequencies—digitalized, gently stereophonic pseudo snare/hi-hat patterns that skitter out in delicate syncopations, elements that are also just as malleable in terms of aural shape as the synths that layer and blanket the bottom end of these compositions.
When it's all matched with an eerie set of glittery, Aphex-ish melodies and the chiming/reversing of gated synths, the sum total is something of a terrific sound, and most of 1.1 is composed in this style. There are a few tracks dotting the album without the more-pronounced rhythmic element, showcasing loops that aren't actually looping, letting tones and disharmonies create their own kind of beats (the kind you learn about in physics class—sound waves scraping against each other, frequencies matching up every so often to heighten/lower volumes over time)... yet another example of just how infinite a singular tone's potential actually is and the sheer beauty of stacking several of those on top of one another. But when those accents pop in, the staccato stuff, Brain Fruit brings it to the edge of the comfort zone, a place where coordinates along musical timelines aren't so definite. A challenging soundscape where beats can either be, or be ghosts. Where time isn't such so much a rule as it is a guideline. Brain Fruit is one of those artists there to remind us how little we know about the "laws" of music, even though it's all so damned familiar. After all... if "1.5" isn't "dance music," I guess I give up. Those backbeats got me movin', period.
Crawf
Buy 1.1 via Debacle Records Bandcamp
KILLER vid for "1.3" from the mainest of men Moduli TV ::
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