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 It came packaged in a DVD case, some material placed under the clear outer casing with a sun-like shape printed on it. Just the thing for a bright summer morning. Inside, the CD design echoes the sun symbol, hand printed and accompanied by a sole sheet of paper outlining the artist name and track titles. This is Wirewall. Now, the thing is, I've been getting a bit jaded by the number of abstract ‘bleepy' electronic pieces I've been receiving recently. Insert the CD to trigger the detonation of heavily synthesised blast-tones then sit back and attempt to endure the rest of the track as it takes you on an unintelligible progression through no-man's-land appearing at the other side no more enthused than you were at the beginning (which was, in more cases than not, a fair while ago…). That said, this release from the USA's Cohort Records is, an exception. It all kicks off with trademark syncopated spatters, panned hard left and right to endanger your sense of balance when wearing headphones. But then, the pounding bass enters and follows its sequence through to its dropout point leaving the incessant drum loop and hook to continue unaccompanied. The bass returns and another build up takes us to the bridge where the drums subside and simmering pads tentatively tiptoe onward until its time to bring back the beat. The analogies to a typical song structure here aren't misleading. Cyclotron, the first track on Wirewall's album, and a couple of others throughout the 5 tracks, very much resemble this. Far from being predictable, this certain sense of ‘knowing' is actually quite refreshing and the fusion of a ‘block' layout and abstract noises set it apart from many of its peers. That said, the mammoth last track Cloudchamber, clocking in at 24mins 40, doesn't see the listener off well. Sine wave shaped arches of noise roll on whilst sounds resembling improvised FM synthesis go off at a tangent upsetting (or equalling, I suppose) the balance of everything that had gone before. It is as if the composer, in all their attempts to escape the rigour of the genre, fell foul of it at the last hurdle. It is a shame that the album should get pulled down by an inconsistent final track, but nonetheless I would wholeheartedly recommend taking a listen. Review by DJC de la Haye
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