Reviews

rating: 7/10
Wurlitztraction is the brainchild of Chris Reid, a sound designer, producer and instrumentalist. His first release, ‘The Starlit Numbers On Her Fingers’ was born whilst Reid was working and studying in Edinburgh. The underlying base of these tracks were developed from the use of unused sound effects and field recordings from short films and animations Reid was working on. Over these he began to piece together a more definable structure, bringing synths, guitars and drums into play to create a shifty yet accessible soundscape of experimental electronica. With class-A influences ranging from Amon Tobin to Godspeed You Black Emperor and Can to Autechre, the style of ‘The Starlit Numbers…..’ was never going to be formulaic. Instead, Reid set about to create a dark sonic journey weaved using a tapestry of electro-acoustic processing, trip-hop beats and manic sound samples.

Across the album we see heavily layered sounds dance haphazardly across an unusual terrain of broken beats and warped melodies. One thing Reid cannot be accused of is adhering to a specific style. All manners of sub-genre’s are thrown into the mix from ethereal ambience to drum’n’bass, moody trip-hop to clattering IDM and everything in between. Sometimes the amalgamation of this mass of sounds may lack the fluidity of scene masters such as Amon Tobin or Richard Devine but the foundations are certainly there and occasionally the listener may find themselves thinking they are listening to songs from an artist on a specialist label such as Warp or Planet Mu.

‘Stomach Full of Smoke’ starts off with an almost post-rock’ish atmosphere akin to ‘65 Days of Static’ and shifts emotively across a warped environment of melancholy melodies, industrial beats and gaseous feedback. The melancholy melodies continue throughout the release and manifest themselves gorgeously on the downtrodden drum’n’bass melodica of ‘Talk Riddles, Listen In Dreams’. Reid continues to showcase his percussive programming prowess on ‘Ghost Train Dust Fight’ which moves into subtle Venetian Snares territory with an atmospheric and meandering take on post drum’n’bass. Where the album really excels is when Reid starts to carve frantic and turbulent soundscapes made from unevenly clustered snippets of sound. Take the Amon Tobin-esque cluttercore of ‘Kairos Call To Angels’ or the eerie electro-acoustic sound fuckery in the middle of ‘Another Pathological Liar’. On ‘Talk Riddles, Listen In Dreams’, drifting guitar melodies are seamlessly laced into bustling beatscapes to provide an energised take on the trip-hop dynamic whilst darker tracks like the twisted Bladerunner-esque freakscapes of ‘Wrapped In Caustic’ contrast nicely against the more subtle offerings, like the downtempo, threatening-yet-subtle ambience of ‘If (You Left Your Body At Night, Where Would You Go?)'.

A keen sense of melody and beat-crafting really prop up this release and in the end ‘The Starlit Numbers…’ yields some interesting and unhinged results that fans of fast-moving electronica will find endearing. (RM)

For fans of: Venetian Snares, Massive Attack, Amon Tobin, Same Actor, Richard Devine

New music from an Chris Reid aka 'Wurlitz Traction'.... very much Amon Tobin with the sonic sounds mixed with electronic beats, d'n'b and hip-hop samples. Great people often don't get noticed because of lack of exposure. I think this fellas one of 'em...
What is evident about this 'EP' (more like a mini album) is the quality. The only real improvement I think this record could do with is more structure. At times it feels as though elements have been thrown in too quickly, or melodically it doesn't 'go'. BUT - overall I think the work has paid up sonictastically! We have here, 43 minutes of silk electronc goodness - almost as good as some of the sonic d'n'b masters out there - Amon Tobins' earlier stuff as well probably. Mixing wierd electronic with nice drum 'n bass elements and smooth turntablism - he's crafted a fantastic, slick, tuneful piece of work. And..... it's FREE! Yes! So right click on the link below and download. You won't regret!

Wurlitztraction might sound like a fair-ground ride by name, and if that fair-ground was in Blade Runner or something, then the music might be fitting too - but Wurlitztraction is a project by England’s Chris Reid. Think experimental trip-hop with plenty of guitars and organs, over deep basslines and sinister beats. This stuff is pretty crazy, but brilliant crazy. Bits of Aphex Twin and Boards of Canada in there in places, but most definitely Chris Reid’s own sound. Make sure you give time to all four tracks on the MySpace page.