Search - Hrvatski :: Swarm & Dither

Well, it's a bit complicated...

Andrew F. | Seattle, WA USA | 04/18/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Hrvatski's latest release is playful, and a bit soulful at times. It's also glitch, which means if you're reading this you probably have an Aphex Twin poster in your room. This album is comparable to Twin's 'Drukqs' (barring the piano interludes), in that it offers much variety, from machine-gun snares to ambient texture experiments. It may get too experimental at times for some, but the standout tracks make it worth the purchase.Launching the CD is the biggest standout, 'Vatstep DSP', where what sounds like a built in reggae preset on a cheap synth keyboard, featuring computer-generated Rastafarian vocals, turns into kickass drum'n'bass just before undergoing a very creative barrage of filters. And guest vocals by a cat. This song is pure short-attention-span entertainment; you can't help but smile at this one.'Paint it Black' gives you a moment to recover, trading off between slow guitar and malfunctioning-atari-with-reverb. Mellow. Trippy.'2nd Zero Fidelity Mandible Investigation' comes at you strong enough to trigger war flashbacks. One realizes at this point that Hrvatski's drum machine is rigged with a jet engine. This also employs the above mentioned filter barrage. As a big drill'n'bass fan, this song is pure gold for me.'Ewc3' and 'Re: When was the last time you were violent?' are percussion-based tracks that play around with rhythm in some unique ways. These showcase Hrvatski's creativity with drums but are a bit minimalist.'Marbles' consists of sqaure-wave video game melody and changing beats. It's a fun, simple track.'Ewc4' starts with electric guitar ping-ponging from left to right, creating a driving rhythm that is picked up by various other sounds in this transitional track. The brilliant cohesiveness of this track is missing from most of the CD, but the skill with which he does it here give you the impression this was intentional.'Gemini (early)' is a Boards of Canada-ish synth interlude, and is quite pretty.'Anesthetise Thineself' sets a stirring guitar melody against chopped-up sound samples and glitchy clicks. Think Venetian Snares' 'Winter in the Belly of a Snake.' Or, for the unfamiliar, think of a robot wondering if it has a soul.And the album closes with 'Tegenborg', apparantly a recording of a solo electric guitar act at somebody's Bar Mitzvah. Um... whatever.Overall this album is best taken as a sampler rather than a cohesive listen. There are only two really fast tracks on it, but they're great ones. The slow ones are compelling if a bit confusing. Fans of Kid606 or any of the names i dropped in this review ought to consider it."