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SECRET MOMMY |
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Track Listing Pressed (LP) |
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a commentary on public space and environments, or maybe a stab at the
mounting quantity of careerists in a once “do it for the love of the
music” music scene, Secret Mommy’s fourth release is an issue of recreational
activity. As a tennis ball collides with a racket, or a wet arm makes
contact with the water of a public pool, the sound scurries, is plucked
from the air, and is ground into granules to be reassembled into skittering,
playful morsels of joyous noise. Very Rec brings to light specific sounds that may otherwise be taken for granted as mere environmental residue – the crisp tear of scissors cutting construction paper, or the swish of an ice skate on ice. These are pocketed and enjoyed, either untouched or as a starting point for digital manipulation. Therefore, focus is on the clatter of activities - clatter that would otherwise be brushed off as merely a consequence of something greater, the activity itself. This is not concept for the sake of concept. It’s the byproduct of an addiction to sound – or more specifically, the searching, the documenting, and the manipulating of sound. Vancouver’s Secret Mommy spent half a year invading public space, equipped with hidden hand-made condenser microphones. He visited his former high school to record a basketball practice; he visited a martial arts demonstration, a children’s day care, a squash court, and a dance studio. He then spent another half a year obliterating this sound collection, cutting it into particles, blowing it up, and sucking it in, all with the spastic glee of a child kicking a tin can across a gravel field, furthering his reputation as a ‘hellbound cruise director’ (Splendid E-zine) in the sound design world. The result is a polyrhythmic, visceral celebration of sporadic delight. A cut n’ paste exploration of activity and movement, obscured by mild absurdism. The fourth chapter of Secret Mommy’s trademark ADD, ‘nothing loops more than twice’, brand of electronic anti-techno. Whatever obscured message may be lingering within Very Rec, it is clear that Secret Mommy has created it for his own recreation, making light of the artist taking himself too seriously; An exercise in exercise. Equally as engaging on the sampler as Matmos, Akufen or Matthew Herbert, Secret Mommy's latest endeavor is the culmination of nearly a year's worth of field recordings featuring friends doing recreational activities. Carefully cutting and reassembling these sounds into quirky compositions, Secret Mommy has serious fun capturing the sounds of scissors into cardboard paper, zamboni machines or tennis balls and making them into songs with amazing results. It's conceptually heady, to be sure, but Very Rec is so much fun that you forget about all of the technical tomfoolery and get lost in the realization that many of these every day sounds which get taken forgranted can result in so much delight. - Rob Theakston, All Music Guide "Taking the serious electro-acoustic
music into the world of dance music (even when there is nothing to
dance to), this is something very very nice... a great achievement."
- Vital Weekly "With Very Rec, Secret Mommy ups the ante with an album based on recreational activities and facilities. Talk about a playful idea... Anyway, Very Rec accentuates Secret Mommy's pranksterish tendencies behind the laptop. Using this license to get ill with a cornucopia of goofy sports/games sounds, he constructs his fun-lovin' spazztronica with "jockular" aplomb. Overturning the notion that IDM is all about stoic, anal-retentive sound design, Secret Mommy revels in coloring outside the lines—in fluorescent colors. The disc's titles—"Tennis Court," "Soccer Field," "Yoga Studio," "Basketball Court," "Ice Rink," "Dojo"—bluntly telegraph his raw materials, but the thrill comes in how Secret Mommy processes and arranges these unconventional elements. As a combination of whimsical gamesmanship, inventively warped composition, and mercurial editing, Very Rec is hard to beat. And your funny bone will get a serious workout." - Portland Mercury "There is a glorious homage paid to the sound of noise. Every day crashes, echoes, and resonance feels like it has been gathered up, coddled, and made into, as Ache Records has called it “electronic anti-techno”. The appreciation for the white noise of movement all around us everyday on Very Rec is a great reminder that there’s beauty in some of the simple things we take for granted... I’m very impressed with his efforts. If this is art for art’s sake, then it’s a job well done." - Indyworkshop.com "One of the reasons we look to musicians is to watch them transform the mundane into the extraordinary -- a trick that Very Rec pulls off with particular aplomb." - Splendid "This shouldn’t be so good! Taking the
concept of “found sounds” and cranking it full of digital technology
and, surprisingly, soul, this is a collection of songs made from sources
such as late night soccer games and ice rinks. And for once, this
approach actually sounds like music. It’s glitch-y, jumpy sound is
what My Way would have sounded like had Akufen had turned off the
radio and made micro-house using, well, pretty much every other sound
known to man. “Dance Studio” (yes, the sounds of a dance studio) is
the standout track here, too herky-jerky to be a radio or club hit,
but a very nice melodic tune nonetheless, with a guitar line holding
things down over an ever-changing beat, while horns bounce around
in the background. This is kind of a novelty album, true, but really,
how often does a music critic get to say that a novelty album is actually
worth buying? None of these tracks are predictable in any way, shape
or form, which is fitting, because nobody could have predicted that
any of this would be as good as it is." -
Exclaim |
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