A solid minimal tech/house release that comes bundled with a slice of experimental edges… it does have a sort of abstract quality to it which causes the music to wash over you as little fragments of its infectious hook-lines fade in and out, morphing between sounds and rhythmic patterns.
[Listen | Purchase] [a]pendics.shuffle is one of the many monikers of Kenneth James Gibson, who is an extremely prolific man when it comes to musical output. He also performs and releases music as: dubLoner, Eight Frozen Modules, Electronic Music Composer, KJG, Reverse Commuter, The Premature Wig and many others, which if I list them all will make this read like some sort of long and demented shopping list. Suffice to say he has made a lot of music over the years, and a very diverse array it is. His initial (commercially successful) musical manifestation was as guitar player, singer and producer of the ‘90’s Indy Rock band Furry Things. He later started to produce music on his own as Eight Frozen Modules using minimal equipment, including a sampler given to him by King Coffee from the Butthole Surfers! If that isn’t one of the coolest claims a man could ever make, then I’m a Dutch uncle – which I’m not.
Since the ‘90’s, the now resident of Los Angeles California has released a slew of music under his various monikers for a whole heap of labels that I’m not even going to try to list. Planet Mu is among them though, as is Adjunct Audio (which Gibson runs) and, well, let’s not get drawn into the whole list thing or we’ll be here all night.
[a]pendics.shuffle is Kenneth’s main electronic alias, and as such he produces minimal techno and house with an experimental edge that puts a lot of his output in a place by itself, and I mean that in a good way.
The EP, I See The Morning Time, released on Mo’s Ferry is a solid minimal tech/house release, and comes bundled with a slice of that experimental edge I mentioned. That’s not to say this is wishy-washy or vague, far from it, it will keep you rooted to the beat in no uncertain terms, but it does have a sort of abstract quality to it which causes the music to wash over you as little fragments of its infectious hook-lines fade in and out, morphing between sounds and rhythmic patterns. The title track is a perfect example of this; it starts with a shuffling hi-hat and a distant version of a melody that will later manifest itself several times throughout the duration of the track. Then, after only a few bars the kick drum and bassline enter in a way that puts me in mind of being wrapped in a blanket. It’s subtle and reassuring, but at the same time it instantly makes your head nod. The whole track is a swirling morphing hypnotic foot tapping journey that builds by layers, takes them away, changes them and reintroduces them along with new layers that creep in almost unnoticed.
Track two is a remix of the title called “Jeremy P. Caulfield’s Dark Hole Sun Remix,” and follows the premise of the original pretty closely. There’s not a lot more I can say about this as everything I said about the original pretty much covers it. Maybe this remix has a bit less in the way of morphing sounds and multiple layers.
Track three, entitled “Strung Doll” is a glitchy electro beast of a minimal techno track with a harder feel and a groove that makes your feet twitch involuntarily. There is still an abstract feel to it, with its melodic lead hook that swoops in and out of the mix, various synth parts and infectious popping percussion sound. In fact, there is a lot going on through this track, but Gibson manages to keep it all under control, not letting the mix get too busy and skilfully manipulating the various elements into a cohesive piece of music that sounds absolutely fantastic. This is a very difficult thing to do well, and this is as good an example as you can expect to hear.
The final track, “Keep Saying Nothing” follows a similar path to those previous. Perhaps this is a little more hypnotic with the repeated phrase ‘keep saying nothing’ going round and round in various states of pitch and speed coupled with a trippy percussion part made of a bouncy pitched sound that reminds me of a kids toy. Against the solid rhythmic backbone of the track, I am again subjected to all manner of subtle and not so subtle sounds weaving in and out of my consciousness, and in fact I have to concentrate very hard just to keep track of everything that’s going on. Another triumph of manipulation to make a complex track sit comfortably and flow easily.
Having said all that, the purpose of this EP is not to be analyzed and dissected. This music functions best when it is simply listened (or danced) to, that way it can be left to do its job; and a great job it does.
I See The Morning Time EP is out now on Mo’s Ferry Productions. [Listen | Purchase]
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