Kid606: Resilience
Tigerbeat6
Midway between the hellraising gabba of Who Still Kill Sound? and the studious refinement of P.S. I Love You lies Resilience, a twelve track collection created by Kid606 (Miguel Depredo) over the past five years. Apparently his favourite album, Resilience manages to be polished and loose while never sounding sloppy or unfinished. In addition to a noticeably pronounced synthesizer emphasis, rhythm dominates many songs (the hooting dancehall of “Phoenix Riddim,” the synth-heavy electro of “Xmas Funk,” the relaxed rave feel in “Sugarcoated,” the bright electro-dub of “Banana Peel”) while in others composition is an equal focus. Starting out in chiming IDM mode, the tension gradually transforms the opener “Done with the Scene,” for example, into a dramatic twanging epic capped by orchestral flourishes while the metronomic closer “Audition” moves incrementally towards climax without losing its reflective qualities.
Is the Kid leaving musical insanity behind? Song titles like “Done with the Scene” suggest as much though only time will tell. Certainly Depredo indulges his gentler side in the clip-hop romp “I Miss You” and the pretty dancehall shuffle “King of Harm.” Given the choice, some listeners might understandably opt for the frenetic rave-ups of Kill Sound Before Sound Kills You and Who Still Kill Sound? As enjoyable as such outings are, though, I'll take P.S. I Love You and Resilience, comparatively more restrained outings but ones that better sustain repeated listens. It bears mentioning, however, that, when heard next to P.S. I Love You, Resilience suffers by the comparison. While it's a credible collection, it's clearly less adventurous and lacks the explorative invention of the earlier work.August 2005