Woven

EPrime (Interscope)
by Tim Den

Woven is the combination of musician know-how and electronic studio wizardry at its finest. Utilizing six members – including two drummers who play “organic” drums and triggered pads at the same time (no samples/turntables whatsoever!) – Woven sound like Massive Attack and Squarepusher writing pop songs. In the midst of machinegun breakbeats and echoing effects, ethereal vocal hooks remain as potent as any radio hit… only more subtle, prettier, and other-worldly. The final, repeating refrains of “Tesion” and “Who Knows” rival recent Radiohead works and are almost more catchy. Masters of swelling atmospheres, EPrime feels like you’re falling down a neon tunnel made of clouds.

The 10-minute hidden track, although not a conventionally “good song,” is a shape-shifting studio experiment that sees Woven going head to head with Aphex Twin’s wild side. Emerging first as broken frequenzies that sound like mechanical bats fluttering their wings, the “song” eventually incorporates Tibetan mantras, submarine signals, a back beat made out of what sounds like flapping sheets of steel, and a finale that grooves along hypnotically to a funk bassline. A most impressive debut, indeed.