Styrofoam
The Point_Misser
(Morr Music)
Over the course of the past couple years, Morr Music has built itself up from a relatively unknown label to one that is synonimous with pretty electronic melodies and playful beats. Their focus is definitely on the lighter side of the electronic spectrum, and they've managed to remain amazingly consistent in their releases, whether they stray to a more pop sensibility or slightly more to an experimental side. The Point Misser from Styrofoam embodies many of the above qualities, turning in a release that is varied, yet stylistically cohesive.
The disc opens up with "The Sign That Points One Way" and the short track thumps along with some old school sounding keyboards and a twinkling melody. It's quite fluffy and almost cute sounding, but by the second track things have already changed around quite quickly. If the first track was a silly warmup, the 9-minute "Heaven Is Burning Pt. 1" gets the album started for sure. Although the track again floats some quiet little melodies, the crux of the track is the varied percussion that ranges from fairly subtle to severly flanged-out and harsh. The juxtapositions work nicely, and even when some little vocal snippets come in toward the latter part of the track, it doesn't seem out-of-place.
For me, though, one of the best tracks on the album is the third track entitled "Words Never Spoken." Layering several different shimmering melodies down over one another, some whispered vocals drift through things and it all skitters along with some very minimal beats before fading out into an electronic lullaby. The rest of the album varies back and forth slightly from these different formulas, sometimes adding a bit more or an edge on the percussion, while at other times keeping a playful feel.
As mentioned above, one of the qualities of the Morr label itself is the quality and consistency of the releases and this one holds true to that. While there are a couple tracks that stand out as being a little better than the others, none of the tracks are boring and the whole disc has sort of a warm electronic feel to it. Like Mum's (who also released their Please Smile My Nose Bleed album on Morr) Yesterday Was Dramatic - Today Is OK, the release focuses on softer electronic melodies and uses them to nice effect. When Autechre gets a bit too schizo, the Morr label is there for you.
Rating: 7
