Build Buildings + Marlo Bright: Isomers EP
StandardKlik Music

Who says heavily processed electronic music can't be ‘warm'? Isomers, a twenty-two minute collaboration by Build Buildings (Ben Tweel) and Marlo Bright, proves that in the proper hands, it most definitely can be. The EP features NY resident Tweel and the Minsk-born and now Milwaukee-based Bright remixing each other's work, with the former tackling three songs from Bright's Polymers and Monomers album, and the latter interpreting material from Build Buildings' There is a Problem with My Tape Recorder. Abstracting guitar, piano, and assorted other instruments into almost unrecognizable form, the artists produce heavily textured material that unfurls peacefully in a manner reminiscent of Ezekiel Honig's Scattered Practices. Isomers' seven songs abound in crackling and rippling textures, minimal clicking beats, and tones that flutter, stutter, and shimmer in equal amount. An occasional hint of lazy hip-hop enters the mix (in Build Buildings' “Bond” mix, for example) while deep, resonant echo gives Bright's “Test Me” mix ambient dub flavour. Though the treatments range from remixes to total makeovers, the seven tracks collectively exude a vaporous, floating ambiance that easily leads to entrancement.

November 2007