Simon Pyke hails from the UK, and has been cruising alongside such well-known acts as Autechre and Boards of Canada from the birth of the Warp Records-influenced Artificial Intelligence electronic movement the good part of ten years ago. Condensed, as the title suggests, is an album’s worth of Pyke’s more memorable moments that have been collated and re-assembled into a flowing mix by none other than Burnt Friedman on his own Nonplace label.
Pyke’s music has always been challenging in the sense that he incorporates elements of expected ‘electronica’ traits, but then merges them with unconventional time signatures and all sorts of wonderful pseudo-jazz experimentation. His self-coined ‘junk-funk’ is represented on this retrospective alongside his more subdued and subtle tendencies. Craving For Grey and Foil clatter along and are suitably junky and funky with their burbling kazoo leads and lazy pulsating progressions. Sopping Wet and Munchogram (phwooar) delve into more dub-drenched arrangements, and emphasise just how much Mr Freeform loves his swing-time.
Having recently ventured to South East Asia, Pyke has incorporated all manner of found sounds into his more recent material, and Phu Qouc and Lijiang utilise large portions of recorded traditional Asian instruments and performance to startling effect.
Condensed succeeds in showcasing Simon Pyke as a talented and accomplished sound sculptor whose strength lies in his courage to dabble confidently in different styles, even to the detriment of his reputation with hardened electronica types. Condensed is a brave and wonderful introduction to the world of Freeform.
