David Edwards deserves an "A" for effort on his debut full-lengthrelease as Minotaur Shock. The interplay of organic piano and guitarwith electronic instruments and sampled beats blends nicely in thisshimmery recordng of tinkling melodies and sharp rhythms. When I sawthe names Fridge and Four Tet dropped in writeups on this album,naturally my interest was piqued, but seeing those names made me expectsomething somewhat derivative of the two. What Edwards is doing iscompletely different from the Fridge boys. It derives, however, morefrom the repetitive, glistening days of Aphex and Autechre mixed with alittle cheesiness of Isan and only a slight nod to Four Tet. While it'snot a bad thing, it is somewhat predictable, in the way that you knowthe first 40-second track is an intro, the second track will probablybe one of the strongest, and the ending will have that proverbialessence of finality to it. The production is great, the melodies arecatchy, yet I'm finding myself more interested in hearing how Edwardsdevelops as a musician. After a year of stunning electronic releases bygroups like Múm, Dntel, Ulrich Schnauss, Four Tet, and Telefon TelAviv, I'm honestly seeking out something more challenging and far moreoriginal. Keep us posted, Dave. -
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