Dean Spunt
's second solo LP was created after he acquired a used E-mu Mo'Phatt, a synth module used in countless hip-hop productions around the year 2000. Gradually, he added other boxes to his arsenal, but he explored the possibilities of manipulating preset sounds rather than creating new ones.
Basic Editions
twists synthetic handclaps, canned strings, glassy pads, and ticking drum machines into abstract formations and soundscapes far beyond the intentions of the synth manufacturers. In some cases, the tracks are pushed close to the realm of musique concrète, as well as
Noah Creshevsky
's concept of hyperrealism. "Critic in a Coma" brings to mind
Giant Claw
and other artists on the
Orange Milk
label, in the way the piece arranges clearly audible sounds into spaced-out but unpredictable sequences, avoiding the use of reverb and distortion effects. "Confusion Is SysEx" is much more scrambled, presenting a giddy splatter of mangled beats, bass notes, and gleeful shouts. Several other tracks do engage with rhythm, often laying down easygoing, percussive grooves and layering them with woozy synths and effects. The results seem far more appropriate for video game soundtracks than radio hits. "Fructose" goes a little crazy with cartoonish orchestra stabs and overloaded bongos, and "Boom Times at the Phatt Farm" is a low-down, sinister prowler which lingers on certain effects more than a straightforward production would, and lets the bassline get a bit carried away. "Highlighter Bombastic" has a slow, bubbly dub pulse, and "The Eternal Present" is a soothing piece with melted glitch textures similar to
Oval
's more ambient work. "Find Me in the Forums" bathes scattered melodies in static and crackle, deteriorating but still retaining a trace of musical structure. Comparable to the hacked MIDI files of
Hausu Mountain
's
MrDougDoug
, or
James Ferraro
's repurposing of log-in sounds and other interactive tones,
crafts surreal, inventive compositions out of technology from the recent past. ~ Paul Simpson