Crescent

Electronic Sound Constructions (Atavistic)
by Jessica Rylan

When I saw E.A.R., I felt ripped off, like I was paying to watch a stoned guy play with cool toys. This CD, a solo project by Crescent‘s Matt Jones, could easily have failed in the same way, but thankfully this is the product of open ears and a clear head. Straddling space-dub and new music, Electronic Sound Constructions is very composed, but still intuitive. The circling synth lines on “Abstract Forms” leave me spinning subtly. Particularly entrancing is “Heat Haze,” where the rhythmic backdrop of muted tone clusters gets slashed by ripping minor seconds through old-style angular distortion. A burning rend. And speaking of tears, the beautiful thick bass on most of the tracks makes my speaker flap, ’cause my old roommate blew the woofer on bad hip hop.

The recording and production (at home on 8 track!) are wonderfully warm and alive. Since the arrangements are sparse, you can hear all the sounds without their getting in each other’s way. So (for example) the snare drum rings musically, instead of that thickish whack you hear in rock music. All the instruments have an incredible sense of presence, so instead of the usual disembodied guitar, you have the sensation of sitting right next to the amp.

The last song, “Philicordia Loops (excerpt),” is a somber and hypnotic organ loop, though I can’t say how long it lasts, cause for some reason my CD player especially likes to skip on that track, which makes me wish I could follow Crescent’s back-panel advice: “If you have the choice, please buy this on vinyl LP.” With a new speaker, what a treat for my ears that would be!
(www.atavistic.com)