Straight outta downtown Grand Rapids, Michigan, comes an EP of beatless vignettes that wears its heritage with pride. Think Eno, circa Music for Films, City Centre Offices releases, and the holy trinity of IDM; Aphex, Boards of Canada and Autechre. Indeed, the second track, Short sounds uncannily like mid-period AFX, although Tim’ not the only chap tinkering with a sequencer to end up with such a sound. Maybe it is this ambient collection’ reliance on softsyths and Reason for the predominant sounds contained within. About ten years ago, I was experimenting in much the same way with similar equipment on the other side of the Atlantic. Could it be the confluence of self-taught musicianship (in my case at least, I dare not presume the same for Mr Warren), a steady diet of soundscapes, poignant melodies and technology? There are moments of glacial beauty contained within under_score, but like the view from the porthole of an Antarctic sightseeing cruise ship, one would be hard-pressed to relate these vistas in vivid detail once the journey was complete. Maybe the English language simply does not have enough words to describe snow, ice or softsynth textures.
You can even download for free via the Square Root netlabel!
Oliver Laing
