Cyclic Defrost Magazine

Conifer Rock – Exploded Views (Square Root Records)
Drifting In Silence – Facewithin (Labile Records)
Glen Porter – Falling Down 7” + album download (Project Mooncircle)

Conifer Rock – Exploded Views (Square Root Records)

Posted: 28 Sep 2009 09:45 PM PDT

Square Root Records describes this release as 21st century lo-fi, a fairly apt phrase as Conifer Rock fuses electronic technology with guitars and ends up with something that sounds like it was recorded on a 4-track cassette machine. Exploded Views is his latest EP release.

Conifer Rock is the sole creation of Trevor Edmonds and his guitar, a drum machine and a laptop. He has taken the sound of The Kills with their primitive funk and blues and stripped it right back to its skeletal frame.

‘Sure Fire’ skips and stutters on a funky breakbeat like Neu jamming with Mixmaster Mike. Once he introduces the guitars to the mix you know this was created by a kid raised on indie as the guitar tones reflect New Order, The Cure and more recent blues-tinged indie rock. ‘Young Professionals’ is junkshop funk with bedroom guitar, similar to Flying Nun's Tall Dwarfs, while ‘Cross Section’ takes a more electronic approach before blues guitar crashes the party.

The vocals on the EP are subdued and mixed low which suits the remote feel of the songs. There is no emotional connection to the subject matter so we are free to focus on the melodies and rhythms.

Edmonds has achieved a wide range with a limited palette. ‘Honey Lies’ utilises Fugazi’s metallic string sounds and ‘Foreign Lands’ has looped, repeating passages that recall 70s and 80s electronica – a softer Suicide – more amiable than abrasive.

Exploded Views ends with ‘Rocket Pops’, a digital haze coating the track as if all of the previous music has dissolved into a shower of 0's and 1's and Edmonds is struggling to stay connected. It is nice to hear this warm mix of instruments delivered in a low key manner. Lately the hype has been around the treble noise pop coming out of the USA which can be a little draining at times. Conifer Rock ticks many of the same boxes but it is wrapped in a cosier shuffle and strum.

Chris Familton

Conifer Rock – Exploded Views (Square Root Records) is a post from: Cyclic Defrost Magazine.

Drifting In Silence – Facewithin (Labile Records)

Posted: 28 Sep 2009 09:40 PM PDT

Based in Chicago, multi-instrumentalist and composer Derrick Stembridge has taken a step back in time with Facewithin. It sounds like Depeche Mode must have been a big influence on his formative musical years, such is the way he uses rhythm and darker synths to create these 6 tracks (plus 3 remixes).

Twinkling melodies hang in the air over industrial tinged rhythms in ‘Misunderstood’, while the not dissimilar title track adds some distorted android vocals and dials up the murky acid beats that Leftfield turned to on their Rhythm & Stealth album a decade ago. The synth washes and subtle techno hints show a composer bringing together the favourite parts of his record collection.

Stembridge does a nice job on ‘Coming Up For Air’, with its stuttering bass synth and Field-like sweeping synthetic strings. He shows a soundtrack approach to the emotions and mood in his songs and in ‘Virus’ he adds some effect-laden guitar and more Underworld robo-voice, generating some nice rise and fall moments.

‘Facewithin’ is the strongest track on the EP, hence its reworking via 3 remixes. The Drev Remix filters the song through a digital blender, separating and scattering the bytes across the speakers. It resembles digital spray and amps up the industrial aspect of ‘Drifting In Silence’, veering toward Nine Inch Nails territory. The Her Odd First Remix doesn't head down any new paths but paints it with a 70s analog brush and goes all Kraftwerk on us. The final Anthony Baldino Remix serves up some tasty deconstructed dubstep with razor sharp sliced notes skittering in all directions. The rave buildup mid track works brilliantly, holding everything mile high before rapidly losing altitude back into the blips and beeps.

Facewithin is a good mix of old and new electronica styles, nicely woven together in a fairly dark setting. Fans of Photek, Cabaret Voltaire and Underworld will all find something to appreciate on this solid release.

Chris Familton

Drifting In Silence – Facewithin (Labile Records) is a post from: Cyclic Defrost Magazine.

Glen Porter – Falling Down 7” + album download (Project Mooncircle)

Posted: 28 Sep 2009 09:34 PM PDT

Glen Porter - Falling Down

Glen Porter’s second album was always going to be one to watch for. Project Mooncircle have come to the party to blackmail us into buying the 7" vinyl single containing the tracks ‘5 a.m.’ and ‘Need Itself Part 2′ – two slices of exquisite drum tracks underscored by Glen Porter’s signature guitar licks, growling bass, subtle electronics and quirky spoken word samples. Once you have that vinyl in your hands, you can then download the whole album for free.

The album is a fantastic listen from the first note. The grim spoken word samples add an air of intrigue, but it's the interplay of guitar and drums that astound. ‘And Death Of’ and ‘Broadcast’ roll in every sense, taking influence from rock as much as it does from hip-hop. ‘Days 2 Come’ digs deep into soundtrack territory somewhere between John Barry and David Lynch (is that Mr. Lynch with some words of wisdom too?), eventually breaking down into a serene and surreal interplay of drums and strings before the breaks roll back in.

‘Goodbye’ gets back to basics with processed guitar and drums, leaving the impression that that’s all Glen Porter needs to make a good track. ‘Hands Without Eye’ plods along nicely, the acoustic guitar squarely at the front of the mix with an almost ghostly male vocal riding the almost dirge. ‘Need Itself’ – the prequel to the version on the 7" – comes over with harder drums for a brief time, while ‘Suffer’ tells tales of exactly that: using some great spoken samples from what sounds like an Australian film, but I'll leave that one for you to spot.

Glen Porter does cut the tracks with some of the same template as his debut album, but this does not distract from the originality this album contains. The few familiarities simply allow for easier access, allowing you to sit back and enjoy the journey. Available to download if you just want the album too.

Another great release on one of the best independent labels of the moment.

Wayne Stronell

Glen Porter – Falling Down 7" + album download (Project Mooncircle) is a post from: Cyclic Defrost Magazine.