Pimmon
Snaps, Crackles, Pops
(Tigerbeat6 Records)
The first and last I've heard of Pimmon was on their short contribution to the Tigerbeat6 Inc compilation that came out a couple years ago. Packed alongside something like 42 other artists, I can't even recall what that track sounded like off the top of my head, so I pulled it out and gave it a listen. It's warm, a backwards loop of something filtered through a warm bed of noise and some faint rhythms. Snaps, Crackles, Pops is their most recent full-length, and despite delving into a pretty wide palette of sounds, it offers up something slightly different than you might expect from the label.
The release is weird in that it's haunting and atmospheric at moments, creating some of the nicest textures that I've heard in some times, and at other times it's a playful affair, mixing lo-fi melodies with wobbly beats. The release opens with sort of a combination of both of the above in "No Jazz For Jokers," as it shifts along with an almost tribal filtered rhythm before squelching bursts of horn sounds burst forth and melt into the distance with varying delays. "In Einem Teich Des Treibstoffs" takes a completely different route, running 9 minutes through a hazy dreamland of quivering, deconstructed song while fluttering bell sounds ring out over the top. It sounds something like Philip Jeck, but with more focus on the treble.
From there, the album jumps around on slightly upbeat tracks like "Frosty Pink" and "Over The Black Dot," never quite incorporating dancefloor rhythms or percussion, but definitely moving things firmly out of ambient territory. "The King, The Eye And The Surfboard" is the most blantant, clipping an upright bassline and a loop of drumming over all kinds of skeeved-out sounds, giving the track a sound like a jazz track on a bad trip.
For my money, the best track on the disc is the 9-minute "RTW: Sound Of A Finished Kiss." Opening with beautiful, heaving layers of pulsing sound, the track very slowly evolves, adding short-wave radio sounds and soft white noise that becomes menacing at points before the whole thing shifts over into a completely deconstructed rock track, with guitars broken into tiny slivers while bells ring in the background. It's stunning. The album closes with the also-excellent "The Sacred Dance Of Mimi Lush," in which a two playful backwards loops (one melodic and one percussive) lope along with one another while filtered vocals add a slightly foreboding feel. In the end, the title of Snaps, Crackles, Pops is actually quite fitting, as most tracks are bathed in a warm coating of soft hiss and quiet clicks. It's not an album that relies on such tricks, but instead it gives the release a slightly soft edge that works quite well given the feel of most tracks (other than the more outwardly upbeat ones). A slightly more subtle release (like the recent Nudge disc) from TB6, and one that's worth checking out.
Rating: 7.5
