EZEKIEL HONIGPeople, Places and Things Record label: Microcosm Music Format: CD Release date: 13 July 2004 As wonderful as this album is to listen to, it's not as easy to review. This is a good thing, however. The types of compositions that Ezekiel Honig presents forces us lazy writers to rethink the compartments that we place music into. People, Places, and Things doesn't allow for such neat or simplistic genre filing. Whereas Technology Is Lonely (Ezekiel's debut album) concentrated largely on a clickhouse aesthetic surrounding a center of atmospheric dub, his follow-up playfully erases the lines in the sand, allowing categories to blur and mutate. As a result, we're left to figure out skeletal forms of genres we thought we were already familiar with, occasionally thrown off balance by the varied assortment of thumps, sputters, buzzes, and crunches along the way. Continuing the idea of working your environment into the mix, quiet electronics remain a constant throughout the album, the withdrawals from Ezekiel's sound bank tickling the ear. Selections like "winterspring," "green tea," and "click & sleep" flirt with house and techno structures, with voices clipped in mid-syllable and other sounds that you're tempted to think are coming from outside your headphones. One might suggest that "memoir of a future past"contains a breakbeat influence. The frenetic percussion underneath its somber tones bring a low-key funk minimalism to the project. To call this album "electronic listening music" would perhaps be most convenient; to call it IDM would just be a cop-out. Honig's productions are too inviting to be considered IDM. While they are introspective to a certain degree, you get the feeling that the creator doesn't mind acknowledging your presence. These works want you around...and you'll be more than happy to stay. {downtempo don}
|