Although Kenneth James Gibson has been officiating under
a vast array of monikers, including Dub Loner, Premature
Wig and Reverse Commuter, and has released music on
labels as diverse as Phthalo, Tigerbeat6, Orthlorng
Musork, Orac or City Slang, it is as Eight Frozen Modules
that he is best known. Combining elements of electro,
ambient, dub, dancehall and DSP into tight compositions,
his work is often reminiscent of that of Aphex
Twin, µ-ziq
or Venetian Snares.
Yet, in just a handful of albums and countless EPs,
he has confidently imposed his personality and touch.
With two albums released almost simultaneously, one
as Eight Frozen Modules and the other, recorded with
Ian Read as Electronic Music Composer, and two other
waiting to be released, it is fair to say that Gibson
will be rather ubiquitous this year.
Released on G25 Productions, Crushing & Responding
is Gibson’s fifth full length as Eight Frozen
Module, and is also his most complex and mature to date.
Kicking off in abstract, post-modern mode with Corteme,
a piece rooted in experimental electronica and electro-acoustic
on which Gibson toys with atonal structures and interferences,
the album then veers into intricate beat processing
with the following track, Your Novelistic Career,
injecting random elements of dub, dancehall and acid
to ornate his sliced-up rhythmic patterns. As the momentum
increases, the constructions become more intricate and
dark, set against claustrophobic backdrops. The ominously
titled Drills For Devil Dub is perhaps the
most openly dance floor-orientated piece. Proudly bearing
its digital dancehall roots on its sleeve, the track’s
chaotic progress is supported by processed vocals and
a tight broken beat, and provides in the process one
of the most thrilling moments of this album. Elsewhere,
Trust These Apart shows off a more subtle side
to Gibson’s music. Although the hectic slicing
still operates here, Gibson leaves enough breathing
space for a gentle melody to develop, while Lack
Of Nursing and If You Only Knew both hint
at post-party muffled-sounds one would experience following
prolonged exposure to loud music.
Behind the suspiciously named Electronic Music Composer
moniker are Kenneth Gibson and Ian Read. Elements of
EFM are clearly audible all the way through, with the
insurgent dancehall beat of Everything New Is Old
firmly setting the tone. Full-on digital beat explosions
and fat bass lines supported by violent bouts of acid
squelches are found on the best part of this record.
It is often difficult to make up any proper melody through
the constant assault of tachycardiac rhythmic patterns
and loose sonic elements.
If tracks such as Everything New Is Old or
Wretched Idea do not bring anything radically
new to the hardcore equation, EMC often play with some
interesting concepts on this album, as on the falsely
downbeat Regional Carcas or the strange post-industrial
disco of Skintight Kink, while the pair also
demonstrate a similarly interesting exploratory process,
albeit tamed, on some of the more subtle moments on
offer here. Adoption Of The Blank is perhaps
the clearest manifestation of this, with Gibson and
Read processing white noise and radio interferences
into an interesting piece of ambient.
Less hectic than Venetian
Snares, more arrogant than Squarepusher,
Eight Frozen Modules and Electronic Music Composer evolve
in the vicinity of each other, with Crumbling &
Responding and Abandon Music showing extensive
family traits. More complementary than similar, these
two albums could almost be two sides to a same story.
Crushing & Responding 4.2/5 / Abandon Music
3.7/5 |
