If the biography on Secret Frequency Crew’s website
was to be believed, Matthew Brown, Matt Friedman and
Adrian Michna met back in 1998 at the National Artichoke
Foundation’s World Artichoke Sauce Dipping finals.
Although it is unclear whether any of them are supposed
to have taken part, the band members have obviously
developed a taste for greenery as the album cover proves.
Voluntarily covering trails to preserve anonymity and
build up some mystery around the band, if somewhat not
that original, is not totally irrelevant when it comes
to Secret Frequency Crew. Forest Of The Echo Downs
is a playful album, which only exposes some of its secrets,
leaving the listeners with the task of reconstituting
the complete puzzle by themselves.
Although the genesis of the project remains, for now
at least, a mystery, it is however known that Brown,
Friedman and Michna have been recording music together
as Secret Frequency Crew for some time, their first
EP dating back to 2001. Following a sporadic series
of EPs released on Counterflow Recordings and Mass Transit,
the trio are finally releasing their debut album on
Miami-based Schematic.
Forest Of The Echo Downs is as lush and inviting
as its cover leads to believe, and at the complete opposite
to the label’s usual sound. Combining beautiful
warm analogue electronics with guitars, pianos, trombones
and bass into an incredibly eclectic soundtrack, SFC
create a strangely unique and enchanted series of landscapes
on which sounds and melodies flourish out of nowhere
to develop into beautiful constructions or imperceptibly
weave themselves into existing ones. Totally unpredictable
and fascinating, Forest Of The Echo Downs is
perhaps one of this year’s most intriguing record.
Although the trio often work around analogue structures
and craft stunning little melodies, each track is entirely
unique. The trio appear as much at ease when remaining
firmly on electronic grounds (Neon Bridge,
Holographic Moon Owls, Photovoric Inchworms)
as they are when venturing into more contrasted territories
(Baron Of The Bog, Pollen & Spores,
Forest Floor). This gives Forest Of The
Echo Downs a curious impression of consistency
in sound and atmosphere, despite its incredible variety
in tones. Applying sounds and ambience around aquatic
beats with compulsive obsession, SFC continuously change
direction, touching on Boards
Of Canada-style hip-hop beats (Holographic Moon
Owls), old-school analogue electronic, often reminiscent
of the quietest moments of Jean-Michel Jarre’s
seminal Oxygene (Black Moss Cave Pt. 1/2),
trip-hopery that could almost pass for Portishead (Baron
Of The Bog), as to purposely avoid pigeonholing.
As this album progresses through rich sonic landscapes,
the trio create, almost unwillingly, something totally
unique and fresh devoid of ostentatious gimmick.
Coming from Schematic, a label that ordinary deals with
harsher sounds, Forest Of The Echo Downs is
in fact extremely accessible all the way through. A
very convincing debut, this album reveals one of the
most interesting bands to have emerged in recent years.
Taking their sound far beyond the realm of electronica,
pop or rock, Secret Frequency Crew are likely to appeal
to a rather wide cross section of music fans and could
well become a near-household name very soon.
4.7/5 |
