Most bands on this cd are local to Arcata, California, so it’s probably no wonder I’ve never heard from them. The bands presented from that area are Level Anchorage, A is for Algorithm, Zach Meints, Swimming, Stereoprimer and Xandicus. The other bands are total alien to me as well, probably because this records is based solely on ‘undiscovered talent’.
I have terrible difficulties judging this cd. It’s electronic music, but mostly not the kind of stuff we are used to here at Funprox, at least I am not. Some tracks sound like coming out of arcade computer games in the early 90’s, other tracks remind me of the mainstream act Air, and have quite some potential, like Zach Meints. Mr. Brown Shoes has definite Aphex Twin influences and sounds really chilling. Experimental laptopism is never far away, as in Hydra the Sea Serpent’s ‘Laptopism’.
There are just too many projects present on this compilation. Most bands definitely deserve an introduction with just one or two other bands, so that the focus is more on a certain project or sound. A lot of projects sound alike too, that makes it more confusing. Many artists make multi-multi-layered songs with heavily textured layers. (White Sunglasses, for example). All is very energetic and joyful, as Full Lip Strike’s ‘Seed and bloom’, which would fit perfectly on some LSD-fuelled party. Although quite weird, most tracks have a strange accessibility to them. It is a pleasant journey through ‘Monosyllabic 002’, although it leaves the listener somewhat disoriented and lost.
