Sometimes a simple description can be such a semantic bulls-eye that it
transcends the need for any explanation. The axiomatic tag, L.A. -based Ed Ma
has chosen to compose under couldn’t represent his music any better. In the
truest sense of the word, edIT edits, and for anyone who finds even the
slightest delight in the possibilities provided by digital signal
processing, this album will serve as an undeniable hedonistic haven to be
revisited again and again.
Why? For starters, it is produced very, very well. These days it is easy
to take for granted what the average person can do with a personal computer-
but edIT is far from being an average person. His attention to detail is
downright humbling and he displays this most apparently in his rhapsodically
enriched rhythms. Intricate and fanatically precise, the beats manage to breathe
with capricious character while imbibing the guilty pleasures of
time stretches, arpeggios of pitch shifted glitches, and shattered fills to
refract from his drum machine breaks. However, while edIT’s namesake
technical proficiency is on par with leading producers in a multitude of
genres, what makes this debut so impressive are his melodically simple yet
emotionally complex themes. The album feels sincerely introspective and
does a marvelous job of balancing waves of regret with persistent naive
optimism.
Crying Over Pros for No Reason immediately introduces the listener to Ed
Ma’s universe. Each track is a world of its own, carefully crafted and
isolated into specific moods. “Situps Pullups” explores how much one can
tow back and forth while anchored in the same place while “Laundry” rinses a
syncopated beat that struts underneathe a spinning synth line cycling
through digital suds. If anything, the album can at times feel satiating,
but it’s not due to overindulgence. Each song feels complete, and while
some albums rely on their tracks to build off each other, these ten pieces
can solidly stand on their own (fans of Telefon Tel Aviv take note).
Crying Over Pros for No Reason will be released in early 2004 on Planet-Mu.
