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| 1 | X-3 Fader | 4:48 | |
| 2 | Speeldoos | 4:54 | |
| 3 | Blu-Glo | 3:44 | |
| 4 | Lines Half Spoken | 7:39 | |
| 5 | Dekol | 5:55 | |
| 6 | Insect Architecture | 7:36 | |
| 7 | 2-26 Transformer | 9:13 | |
| 8 | Sub Holiday | 7:38 | |
| 9 | Oranjebloom | 6:10 | |
| 10 | Audio Letters | 10:26 | |
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Another Review |
Sometimes the artist doing the design on these experimentally classic releases deserve as much credit as the actual artist performing and constructing the sounds. A decaying red leaf casually inspected under what seems to be a microscope in certain spots, leaves you to wonder what kinds of sounds will be extracted from this latest Surgery (AU) release. Cailan Burns and Jason Sweeney are the construction engineers forming precision beats, fully stretched out melancholic chaos and low-flying magnetic rhythms. Will Skam Records regret not releasing this deep form of experimental electronic armchair music? We'll just leave the inside politics of music labels out of this explanation of a fine release by PBXO. The Building and Formation creates levels of uplifting memories. Memories that place you on a swing when you were 7 trying to reach the highest level and preparing to jump for the furthest possible air-time and distance. Well, PBXO not only take you back and forth from these subtle areas tucked away in your memory bank, they also happen to create a fine dose of energetic clip-hop beats molded to unique arrangements of flowing basslines and crisp digital squeaks. It's no wonder that Surgery Records, with their creative selection of quality musicians, that PBXO would be on the roster creating their own movement in sound definition. After paying particular attention to the abstract electronic voices that are subliminally hidden in random spots on The Building and Formation, you begin to feel the darker elements of this release that peel away after a few listens. Several penetrative basslines massage your ears, clean melodic chords spatter away in the background and distinct electric wires burn in a pile of digital chaos. These are only a few of the chemicals that can be found if you search hard enough into the formation of this building. Pietro De Sacco (Courtesy of Igloo Mag) |
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It was a very shrewd call on Surgery Records' part to make it explicit that this material by Australian duo Pretty Boy Crossover was originally going to be released on cult label SKAM, who originally brought artists such as Boards of Canada and Bola to popular attention. Good marketing or not, this piece of information is a good starting point for giving a quick understanding of what to expect on The Building and Formation. Although pretty in terms of the soft melodies that wander across the tracks, the soft and muted production might be more fairly described as "grubby". Slowed down drum loops crunch away in the background as evolving keyboard parts wander across a bed of crackling hissing and fuzz. Chords swell and shimmer through long echoes, crumbling and fraying around the edges. Lest you get the wrong impression, Pretty Boy Crossover's crackling textures and wavering pitch give off the feel of a worn down tape or LP more than the overtly digital feel of many modern minimalists. Think of something like Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works II (Warp), not Clicks and Cuts (Mille Plateaux). A little nostalgic possibly, but very beautiful. Michael Upton (Courtesy of Igloo Mag) |
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