REVIEWS

Download
FiXeR

Subconscious Studios

Posted: Thursday, May 10, 2007
By: Matthew Johnson
Assistant Editor

Part of the fun of listening to Download, or for that matter any of cEvin Key's projects from Skinny Puppy on down, is figuring out where he gets all those noises from. FiXeR is focused more on rhythmic playfulness than deep textures, but there are still plenty of mystery sound sources to solve. "Bell Ringoor," for example, laces acid breakbeats with high-pitched whirrs and sustained choral sounds, which may in fact be church bells, as suggested by the title. Or is that a red herring? Likewise, is that singing buried under the tinkling synths on "Uhm," followed up by violins, or are all of those just processed synthesizer effects? And in the last third of the three-part "Krakatoa," that little melody could be a dulcimer, or it might just be a piano run through a lot of different effects and compressors. At some point, you just give up trying and relax into the clicking rhythms and chopped up samples, but then Key throws you for a loop with "Neuron Proper," an acid house excursion that uses comparatively recognizable flute and chant snippets for a vaguely Middle Eastern feel. Then it's back to teasing the eardrums again with "Sorcear," a tinny and complex arrangement of metallic rhythms sprinkled with song segments that are just long enough to be recognized but so maddeningly short that they're gone before you have the chance to identify them. It's that sort of intensely referential approach that makes Key's work so fascinating and sets him apart from most other electronic composers. He seems far less interested in the visceral aspects of music that pack bodies onto the dance floor, and far more interested in making a connection with listeners on an intellectual plane. While that makes FiXeR a bit harder to get into than the newest Combichrist or Paul van Dyk CD, it also makes it a deeper, more rewarding experience for those with the patience to really sit down and listen to it.