Freeplay

Ten and Tracer
In Such a Fix to Be so Fertile
(Rope Swing Cities, 2005)

By Cory Casciato
casciato@mscd.edu

    On the mini-album In Such a Fix to Be so Fertile, Colorado experimental electronic artist Ten and Tracer slices, dices and terrorizes his sounds to create a tense, claustrophobic musical nightmare that would make the perfect soundtrack for a Japanese horror movie about cyborg insects that live on the underside of reality.
    The opening moments of the first track, “Chanting the Secant Deific” offer little hint of just how strange things are about to get, starting with a lurching beat, some skipping high hats and a few buzzing synth tones mixed in here and there. It could stand in for the opening seconds for any breakbeat track, but instead of resolving into a typical dance track it quickly takes a turn for the weird. Additional layers of percussion enter and rattle against the main beat as a low, hollow sub-bass pans back and forth. Chittering, insectile noises of unknown origin begin to swirl around the beat as if they are looking for a way in. Toward the end of the song a quiet, almost subliminal string-like tone enters, its relatively familiar timbre standing in sharp contrast to the rest of the track.
    The second track, “Having Once Turned Around – Walk On,” dives even deeper into the rabbit hole. Minimal, intermittent percussion rises and falls in a sea of modulated static. Distorted, half-heard voices occasionally bob to the surface. Hints of synth strings appear, only to be transformed seconds later in atonal ringing sounds.
    The two best tracks on the album arrive in its second half. Chopped-up drum breaks interspersed with feedback tones, shards of digital noise and quiet, mumbling voices make up “Karl Marx.” The track surges back and forth between regular, almost danceable beats and twitching spasms of distorted percussion. It’s hard to see the connection with the father of Communism, but links to Aphex Twin and other luminaries of experimental electronic music are much more obvious. The final song, “Indian Pail,” ends the album on a quieter, almost contemplative note. A low-key beat propels the song at a leisurely pace while waves of eerie, spacey noises trace minor-key melodies as they reverberate through the interplanetary ether. Half-heard voices flit in and out, staying just long enough to tease the ear before dissolving again. The beat mutates, multiplies and folds back on itself before returning to something close to its original form.
    This album rewards careful and repeated listening. On first listen it doesn’t seem to be much more than a confused jumble of distorted percussion and shapeless noise. Upon closer examination, worlds of minute detail appear. Fragments of sound erupt in pulsing waves, flitting aimlessly until suddenly coalescing around the beat like moths around a streetlight. Intricate patterns and complex sonic interactions emerge and disappear. The result is an album that gets better and more interesting every time it is played. It’s a challenging listen, but a truly rewarding one.

Download Ten and Tracer’s In Such a Fix to Be so Fertile at http://ropeswingcities.com/?p=9

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