Search - Add N to X :: On the Wires of Our Nerves

Eccentric, electric, organic, occasionally orgasmic

Micah R. Sisk | Frederick, MD USA | 01/09/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Maybe it takes someone who's been there to clue you in on this one; in a world where everything that was old is new once more, Add N to (X) has managed to create the freshest sound I've heard in half a decade. How? By filtering the experiments of twenty to thirty years ago through the production methods of today. Yes, I do mean fresh but I also mean derivative. That, however, is not to say boring--none of the music referenced on this CD was ever popular enough in a commercial sense (at least not here in the States) to become overused--but it is a rather telling sign of our times. We generally think of electronic music these days as being chiefly collage, the lifting, looping and rearranging of source material from everywhere and anywhere. But here we have a return to improvisation, originality and live performance. The tone here is upbeat, lighthearted and quirky without abandoning chaos, uncertainty and danger.But since the musical references in this CD, and there are many of them, have been almost totally ignored by the critics I've read, let me run through those that come to mind: Track one, Barry 7's Contraption is a tune that would very comfortably fit on an album from 1978 by The Residents, Tuxedomoon or Renaldo and the Loaf (all Ralph Records artists). Track two, Robot New York, cuts in with a bass line that sounds transplanted from Pink Floyd circa Ummagumma and set to a sonic arena of analog trills, shrills and spills. Then it's on to Skills, which is bristling with late 60's psychedelia references (see PF again but this time set the controls back to the days of Piper at the Gates of Dawn), at least in the drum and bass section. Overlay that with more Residential detuned synth play . . . Steve's Going to Teach Himself Who's Boss? Can you say Six Things to a Cycle from Fingerprince by The Residents? By far the best cut on the CD, track 5, FYUZ, combines a speed bass line with crash and burn synth attacks that harken back to the unpublished, and therefore coincidental, 1983 Hotball Suite by The Spot Reducers. And what's that female vocal line I hear but a digitally plucked and tucked melody that could have been pulled off of any of a dozen Renaissance albums? The reference pile up and include everything from 70's avant gard to art and prog rock. To the credit of this trio, their musical references are often more ones of sonic than stylistic or structural choices. Add N to (X) are not imitators but artists adding their own unique stamp to the legacy of many forgotten sonic treasures. As a result this CD is at once familiar to my old ears and totally new, a statement that can't be said of most techno, retro, hip-hop punk or alternative rock. To those unfamiliar with the underground and fringe musical happenings of the late 60's to early 80's this CD is bound to sound like nothing you've ever heard (let's just say it's not dance for one). To those who will recognize the musical past dredged up here, you will find a new look at old ways of hearing and thinking. Avant Hard is eclectic, eccentric, electric, organic, occasionally orgasmic and by far more interesting than anything I've found for too long a time."

Orgy of addntoxus

pete23 | pete23.com | 12/29/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"i'm obviously incapable of giving this above a four, but most people have missed the point. this is a good few minutes of sex on synth.



highlight? orgy of bubastus. i DEFY you to listen to that and not crack a smile, even if you're not going to laugh like a loon and play air synth..."

Daleks with moogs

Patrick Tufts | San Francisco, CA USA | 06/27/2000

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Where to start? This album is brilliant and alien. Add N to (X) has a clearly developed style, borrowing from Can, Kraftwerk, Ryuichi Sakamoto, Wall of Voodoo, Holger Czukay, Wendy Carlos, the Residents, and Portishead.The opening track, "We Are Add N to X", is an absolutely wonderful introduction to the band. Most of the other 12 tracks fit together as a movie score written by Daleks -- at times edgy and slightly menacing, but mostly wonderfully, absurdly weird. "The Black Regent" is one of the few duds; it's confined and doesn't go anywhere interesting. "King Wasp" is infectious.Highly recommended for Electronica/Ambient fans.--Pat / zippy at cs.brandeis.edu"