Tay0-- Names and Numbers

"Names and Numbers", the most recent album available from Tay0, is a fulfilling and exciting aural experience that showcases brilliant bass and percussion-led tracks. These pieces at once generate vivid imagery and span a spectrum of styles.

First track "Jodrell Bank" opens with strong percussive elements and a faint buzz, relying on soft, rattling beats that morph into bass pulses and ominous drones. A quiet synth that feels at once hopeful and maligned interplays with the sharply glitched elements of the track.

Slower in tempo, second track "Wintermute" displays a mosquito-ey synth supported by a watery and diverse percussion. It fits, strangely enough, very well with following track "Behold tha Lamb", a piece that builds itself around a booming spiritual woman's voice preaching. By working her voice through the chaos of synths and an upbeat rhythm, there is a somehow symbiotic blend between the two seemingly unamalgamable styles.

"Backscatter" moves away from the characteristic upbeat rhythmic patterns of before, using eerie echoes, a hint of bass and a slight smatter of random blips to surround the listener with chilling sounds. Sound-rays like distant sirens creep up and down the spine amidst the frenetic blips, proving that it's somehow possible to emulate the sensations of going through a backscatter scanner with sound. 

Easing us back into a more comfortable, more high-spirited beat, fifth track "Names and Numbers" features smoothly expanding hums and gently tinkling little synths whispering above twisting mids that unwind and finally detune. Following up is the well-recorded "ModoKun (Live 01092010)". It opens with a deep booming rumble and unwinds into impressive, frenetically paced drums, which are well-bolstered by an airy synth.

Track seven "Bubblegum Beats" encompasses a number of vibes: first, it opens with a solemn synth and beat. Then cleverly played, enthusiastically cheerful video game beats hop over soda slurping and sunny plungs. Finally, the track darts into a synthesized beat breakdown, while vocals gleefully tell us: "Oh that's so sweet. It's so melodic. It's so tuneful, and accessible; this is Bubblegum Music!" 

The final track "Flyover Country" is more serious, sincere, and shows off once more Tay0's ability to paint complex visuals with his sounds. The track's elevated sonic movements glint and gleam, making for a well rounded track that feels like a view of earth and sky at a travelling pace. The fadeout comes as a gently ascending takeoff, leaving listeners satisfied.

All in all: Listen if you are desirous of strong rhythms and bass without sacrificing ambience, and if you're in the mood for a wonderfully varied album that makes excellent use of transitions. The album has a fantastic balance of lighthearted upbeat grooves and sobering moments, and is a mature, attentively created collection. 


Available on Tay0's site, free download. Find more on Soundcloud.

SRM-- In Transition

"In Transition", the 18 track offering of a madcap mix of progressive rock, humor, soundtrackery, and ambience, somehow manages to gel together and form a cohesive glimpse into the brain of its creator (whom I imagine/hope to be a bit of a mad scientist) Steve Morton, aka SRM. 

First track "Smells Like Pork (Tastes Like Chicken)" is completely, fearlessly irreverent and absurd, flaunting flashy synths and samples of dogs barking and flatulence. It serves as the album's advice to its listeners to prepare for a strange variety of tracks.

Second track "American Idyll" encompasses an entirely different feel and mood-- it's dominated by wonderfully twangy electric guitars and a tapping bass, which lends itself to a shuffling, gritty Americana tone.

Track three, "Progress and Livers" is charmingly reminiscent of 1980's prog rock. A snappy synth and picky guitars are laid over a quick drum beat, making it a fun, danceable piece. 

Downshifting in tempo, "Fishfin" is a much softer, more somber experience. Moody percussion and chiming synths dominate, and woodblocks add a unique touch. The track is aptly titled: it's at once smooth and sleek with all the prickliness of scales. Following up is "180", which is made up of grungy, bass driven guitar tones and insinuatory vocals, making it the darkest track on the album.

Abruptly, SRM switches gears into "Really Cheesy Theater Theme", a track which is indeed as its title suggests-- cheesy surfer punk soundtrack music that sounds right at home in a beach party film. The track is so strangely placed that it fits right in, a delightful shift back into the bizarre. 

Standout track "Anna" returns to a twangily tuneful jazzy guitar and scratchy synths, peppered with Latin percussion. The piece breezily sways and crackles with magnificent vivacity.

"Trippin'" is slower in tempo and dominated by bass and hushed cymbals. The voice samples are at turns poignant and sardonic: "We assure ourselves that our destination will be Heaven", "I'm having the most perfect hallucination!, "Please help me. I've taken LSD". They lend a surreal quality to the atmosphere of the piece, proving that SRM can be thoughtful without taking himself too seriously.

It gears us up for track nine, "Sorry Danny", driven by a tuba-like tone, and it's a rollicking, fun dive into SRM's soundtracking forays. "Headlong" features whirling, gyrating synths and knocky percussion and is  a perfectly fitting mood piece for building suspension, and "Luncheonette of Death"'s flashy telephone synth is interwoven with piano-like pizzazz, adding a sort of smiling tension to the mix. 

Twelfth track "'Jasper did once, but he don't no more'" is another notable departure into more serious territory: it's tough, punchy, percussive, deep, and shifting-- another standout track.

"Midnight Tarmac" is a more traditional electronic piece-- lively, bouncy synths and a snappy bass dominate. It's light cheerfulness is balanced by the following track "'Here they come!'", an appropriately ominous mood creator. 

"Snouts in the Trough", an interpolation of chimes and humorously clever synths, marks a return to SRM's zesty and playful tone, while "Sunset" is more relaxed and ambient, using a humming, organ-like synth and a tiptoeing bass in a gradual crescendo of sound. 

Seventeenth track "Iron Lung Blues" is disquieting at first, and then bluesy as labored breath transitions into a decidedly high energy track that cheerfully bounces along, merrily poking fun at smokers.

Final track "Smells Like Pork (extended dance remix)" is a fitting conclusion to the album. It remains faithful to the original version, but showcases more bass and instrumentation, all the while still remaining as wonderfully weird as before.

All in all: SRM proves that he's versatile and capable of wearing many hats: some silly, some serious. Many of the tracks here are outstanding, and the whimsical, fun ties that keep the album together are strong. Everyone is sure to find at least a few tracks to their liking, even the poppies, and giving the full album a listen through is well worth it, just to witness the dazzling spectacle that is SRM's instrumentation.

Available at SRM's website, free download. Also available on CDBaby, physical copies for $6.00, downloads for $5.00.