Vincent Parker: Bit Rocker
Fourthcity

Vincent Parker may use familiar laptop-styled gear for his 50-minute Bit Rocker disc but what results is far less predictable. Yep, there's hints of techno and the music's roots are, broadly speaking, in IDM but Parker's just as likely to draw from electro, hip-hop, industrial, and punk as he is anything else. Like many cut'n'paste producers, Parker's a voracious sponge who ingests all manner of sound and then regurgitates it in three-minute form. His debut's a smorgasbord of computer-generated styles, then, but one executed convincingly enough.

In general, the Vancouver native eschews a disorienting collage style, opting instead to focus on slippery beatwork and hammering pulses (like “(wake)” which weaves between jittery electronic pulses and funky breaks) with melody a secondary concern. That deficiency turns into a weakness on occasion: the skittering pulses that dominate the blurry outro “Welcome to Duncan ” are decent enough, for instance, but the piece would be more compelling were there something equally strong melodically to accompany it. Memorable moments appear nonetheless: guitars strum placidly during “Ice Caps,” bringing a rare episode of downtempo melancholy to the album, and the opener “Klis” definitely grabs your attention when Parker adds a woman's orgasmic moans to its scarred electronics and pulverized beats. At the end of the day, though, a bit more intensity on the order of “Pure,” the blazing throbber Parker works up with Deceptikon, would have helped separate Bit Rocker from the competition.

May 2006