BlipVert- Stop:Skronk:Explode!

ARTIST: BlipVert

ALBUM: Stop:Skronk:Explode!

LABEL: D-Trash Records

REVIEWER: Matthew J.

DATE: 2-10-09

BlipVert is the solo project of Will Redmond, who also plays in a number of other projects, including experimental act Cartridge and minimalist dub act E. Priest. Redmond's solo material runs the gamut from video game music to drum 'n' bass to ambient, but all uniquely spliced together and sped up into a frantic and punishing blur of ever-changing sounds and rhythms. Dub music is just about the last genre anyone would ever describe as frantic, but Redmond manages to make it happen on the first track; as "Peace with Ummem" segues from flute trills and footsteps to studio buzz and drumbeats, the rhythm turns into something fast and distorted but nonetheless possessed of an instrumental reggae flavor. It sounds like Lee "Scratch" Perry getting pulverized by a runaway freight train. "Big Boy Slip" is all abrasive distortion and sudden tempo changes, and "Barbwire Girls" slips seemingly at random between high-BPM hardcore techno and washes of ambience. As if the frenetic nature of his music wasn't enough, Redmond also makes several of his compositions extra creepy with what sound like disturbing playground rhymes, as on "Couch of Soob" and "Tao to a Feel." While Redmond is certainly capable of moving into mellower territory, as on the purely ambient outro "Georges" or the Art of Noise-inspired "Bye Judy, Don't Make 'em Sad," the pure unpredictability of this release is enough to drive a typical techno listener to self-harm. Noise freaks, on the other hand, will eat this up.

Visit www.synapsecompound.com for more information on BlipVert and Will Redmond's other projects.