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Knowing that this is a collection of music from previous EPs (and then some) makes the joyous and erratic beauty present all that more enjoyable. David Edwards knows what he wants to do with his music: there's not a moment of sound that isn't somehow strangely beautiful, sweetly smooth, or surprisingly fluid. Instruments come together in flirtatious ways and rhythm excuses itself from predictability to usher in the kind of melodic surprises that early electronic bands managed to pull out of their hat through variation in repetition.
"Don't Be A Slave To No Computer" clicks and bubbles with the kind of percussive pillow-noise and sizzling, seemingly random, and jumpy melodies that makes programmed music sound so human. There's a daring glimmer in their souls that suggests caution but favors the extremes and the rawness of jumping into the middle of a power that can't be controlled. "Let Me Out" grinds with the sound of aquatic organs and forests bathed in silver, the electronic sounds becoming tangible and sensuous instead of alienating, industrial, and altogether cold. The middle portion of Rinse (tracks five through eight) have a more digital sound, but don't suffer for it. The cut up pieces of live percussion mix well with the horn-like synthesizers on "The Downs" while "Albert Park Music" rolls along the tunnels of abandoned highways with hidden pianos and omnipresent percussion. The only thing suffering here is the relatively straight-forward pop music emerging out this section of the album; the stuttering and awkward time signatures that made the first part sound so fresh are absent and replaced with a sound that almost sounds geared toward a live performance with instrumental musicians. This is how the album ends, on something of a slick note. I'm a fan of the raw and unpredictable, so I'm not so inclined to enjoy the relaxed vocals on "Lady Came from Baltic Wharf" or the easy-going flutes on "Rockpoolin'," but the music is no less remarkable for that.
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Okay, already, I take it all back. The EP from this Brighton foursome released late last year didn't light me up, but this record is a delight from first track to last, and in between it has just enough touches of brilliance to guarantee a place in my CD player for weeks or months to come.Too Pure
The single, "On Parade," doesn't even scratch the surface of the planet they've touched down on — even though the album gets its title from the track — and playing the whole record on repeat won't duplicate the atmosphere they breathe, but the downloadable pictures of the topology are a sight to see. This is the real girl rock, with the members firing on all cylinders every note and beat. There is an eighties influence for sure, but Electrelane are deft as well as daft in the way they intertwine their various styles, sometimes all in the same track. A driving bassline and French vocals open the album with a swaying rock number to make the shoegazer set proud. After the punk angst of the single, a soaring choral number takes over the speakers, and I'm immediately more impressed by this band than I ever was before. The hits keep coming, one after another, with the quiet infection of "Birds" and "Oh Somba!" being balanced by plenty of bombast and energy as well as almost strategic experimentation and space-out rock of the album's closing instrumentals. In fact, it's been a long time since I've heard a more calculated and coordinated release, where one can listen to the whole record start to finish and not skip one track. The growth of the band from their earlier releases is astounding, and the record reveals more and more with repeat listens. Where before I wasn't sure about Electrelane, I am now a converted disciple, and I cannot wait for the next sermon. 
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CD Eb + Flo marks a number of departures in the work of one of today's most interesting sound artists. The double-disc is Matthews' first solo release using theremin as primary sound source, following her retiring of the violin which had formed the core of her excellent first three discs (recently reissued as a trio). The artist's method remains somewhat constant on Eb + Flo, involving the live sampling and laptop manipulation of sounds created with the theremin and projected via quadraphonic soundsystem throughout a particular room.
Matthews sets up a system of microphones in each performance space (five in total for these discs), enabling the pure tones of her instrument to feed back in a manner unique to the architecture of the room. Environment plays the biggest role in the artist's music and has never been as much of a factor as it is on this release. As with previous recordings, Matthews has placed additional microphones around the room to gather specific pockets of sound, influenced by audience movement, noise from outside etc. However, where on her debut, CD Ann, the artist credited these "hidden" mics with only "the essential wild card," Eb + Flo is more sympathetic, the blank purity of the sine tones allowing for uncluttered, even languid compositions that seem to evolve with an ear trained, more than ever before, on the details and happenings of a particular space. The release's double-length is perhaps indicative of new patience and openness in Matthews' work. The sine tones could not be further from the frayed, "comfortable" strains of her violin, and the individual pieces on Eb + Flo are drastically minimal compared to the warm, droning pile-ups that fill earlier releases. But while these pieces are more demanding, they also maintain a grasp on the ingenuous nature and simple luxury that separates Matthews' work from many similar-minded artists, such as fellow sine-stress Sachiko M. Several tracks take on a playful air, such as the two pieces that open cd eb, "Long Line Starting" and "Clean Tone Falling," whose titles seem to poke fun at the solitary pure tones jetting across both in comical animation. Others bearing titles like "Hallo Vera" and "For Mama" echo Matthews' commitment to keeping personality, and a level of immediacy, in her increasingly abstract style; the latter with its mournful drones and captured bird-songs (via open window?) is particularly subtle and rich with sentiment. Played at a volume high enough to register the intricacies and unique spatial referents of each sound, Eb + Flo manages a unique and fulfilling sound environment, full of movement and mesmerizing activity, and it is an expertly restrained effort as well, allowing the most intimate picture to date, of the artist's process, her degree of involvement and particular response to what a space might offer, or give back.
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