Reviews Search

D_RRadio, "Born / Come to Light"

This, the first of three limited edition Death Row Radio 7" singles coming in 2006, contains the gentlest ‘fuck you’ to creationists I’ve ever heard. If the child behind the voice of the A side can understand and explain the origins of the universe, then maybe there still is hope for the knuckle-dragging right wingers of the world.

Distraction

"Born" weaves live and processed beats together into a crackling touch rhythm. As this percussion lays a beat, the song takes shape, but it sounds like it's being constructed backwards, revealing itself perfect piece by perfect piece. A beautiful distant piano sinks briefly as the voice of a young child is heard—probably sampled from some relatively obscure source—clearly explaining the origins of the universe. The melody is squeezed out drop by drop as a mini choir, flute, and chimes elevate the song into one of the finest pieces of ghostly analogue lullaby gospel to come from this or any other part of the world.

The flipside, "Come to Light," has a core of a bright (but incomplete) jazzy guitar loop which provides the rhythmic pull of the song with the clockwork beats supporting. The song’s other melodic satellites orbit and overlap this central piece, letting it flow while appearing to build and swell.

In this dark winter of bedroom electronic acts with borrowed acoustic guitars, the weaving of analogue and digital sourced sounds is not exactly a rarity. Cracked music software seems to be all the rage, most of the product is something instantly reminiscent of something else, and the music usually ends up in an unsurprising grainy/melodic/electronic style. With the tidal flood of sound-alikes rolling in it's difficult to sift the gold from the dirt, so I thank my lucky stars that I came across D_RRadio.They might take their time with completing the music and as impatient I am for the next instalment, I’ll be waiting.

samples: