02/01/2004

The Brainwashed Brain, Arlington, MA

http://www.brainwashed.com

Ribbon Effect ep98
Chicago's Ribbon Effect released their debut album, "Slip", last year, and now this EP of the band's first recordings is one of two debut releases from False Walls Recordings. The group is a three-piece whose music is based largely on group improvisation and a mix of the electronic and the organic. Keyboards and synthesizers mix with the drums and accordion to make a truly interesting sound. It sounds oddly like the soundtrack to robots in factories, welding cars together. In fact, if those robots liked music, I bet they'd like Ribbon Effect. The songs have a very simple structure, and move right along with a few fills and breaks. Over time, it's easy for the listener to lose interest, though not entirely. It's just that the use of the instruments is so consistent, so unmoving, that tracks seem to go on far longer than they should. That and the fact that the music is instrumental in nature adds up to a good first listen, but novelty doesn't make you return to the well for more. The first two tracks suffer from this affliction, but the third and fourth tracks, "Cast Away" and "Sweet William's Catchfly", are just plain good. Beeps that echo, harmonics and programmed beats mix and meld, moving towards a climax at the end of the former that eventually you are begging for. Finally, real drums come in, and the track melds into the latter, building with accordion to the big finish. It was enough to make me want to hear more from Ribbon Effect and this label, so as an
initial release it serves its purpose. I, however, hope that Ribbon Effect have
learned some lessons from this first release and have more substance on their
full-length.

- Rob Devlin

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