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Sybarite, "Dolorous Echo/The Mast"
Xian Hawkins composes some of the most elegant and addicting music, butremains somewhat lost in the tidal wave of other electronic composerscurrently active. It's a shame because, as Sybarite, he manages tocoerce soft, seductive, and contemplative songs out of his machineryand his music never gets old; it's never lost in an emphasis onproduction or artiness.
Brainwashed
"Dolorous Echo" is a ricocheting curve ofmetallic percussion and remarkable melodies built into and on top ofone another. It's cascading mass seems to fall in slow motion as thebeats slip and spin about, circling around the reversed and chimingsynthetic tones that float slowly away at every turn. There's a denselayering of rhythmic and harmonic elements on each second of the song;the flute-like whistle that's somehow surrounded by all the otherinstruments may not be noticeable at first, but it carries a certainimportance with it as it is pushed, pulled, and resituated in the mixthroughout the song. It's like being led through a maze at high speedover and over again, until nuances and details become clear out of purerepetition. Only Hawkins is messing with me at every lap of the maze,changing the smallest details for the best effect. "The Mast" is aslowly pulsing array of telephone tones, wooden blocks, and smoothbass. Hawkins' arrangement makes the song feel as though it isvibrating in and out of existence, the extended metallic drones and therhythms shimmering in unity so that the song feels like a flashing starof bass tones and rocking-chair keyboards. It's a relaxing littlenumber that contrasts perfectly with "Dolorous Echo." It's a good thingthat pre-orders of Otologycame with a CD that included this release because within another week'stime, I would've worn the grooves out of this 7" and have wanted areplacement desperately. This is an excellent place to start becomingfamiliar with Sybarite.
Brainwashed
"Dolorous Echo" is a ricocheting curve ofmetallic percussion and remarkable melodies built into and on top ofone another. It's cascading mass seems to fall in slow motion as thebeats slip and spin about, circling around the reversed and chimingsynthetic tones that float slowly away at every turn. There's a denselayering of rhythmic and harmonic elements on each second of the song;the flute-like whistle that's somehow surrounded by all the otherinstruments may not be noticeable at first, but it carries a certainimportance with it as it is pushed, pulled, and resituated in the mixthroughout the song. It's like being led through a maze at high speedover and over again, until nuances and details become clear out of purerepetition. Only Hawkins is messing with me at every lap of the maze,changing the smallest details for the best effect. "The Mast" is aslowly pulsing array of telephone tones, wooden blocks, and smoothbass. Hawkins' arrangement makes the song feel as though it isvibrating in and out of existence, the extended metallic drones and therhythms shimmering in unity so that the song feels like a flashing starof bass tones and rocking-chair keyboards. It's a relaxing littlenumber that contrasts perfectly with "Dolorous Echo." It's a good thingthat pre-orders of Otologycame with a CD that included this release because within another week'stime, I would've worn the grooves out of this 7" and have wanted areplacement desperately. This is an excellent place to start becomingfamiliar with Sybarite.samples:
