A fitting final track for our latest MEANS compilation, from one of our very own reviewers, Michael Conboy. A smelting pot of abstract dub and dusty space samples, ‘we choose’ is a short but concise slab of deconstructed goodness. Managing to draw upon the tropes of dub but to frame them with such an open hand as to feel more like Conboy’s simply left his compositional ingredients untouched on the kitchen table, the track doesn’t so much meander as linger, an almost static snapshot of ideas in flux.
Conboy has been steadily building a wealth of material over at his bandcamp, his collection of tracks offering an lovely insight into his specific brand of musical experimentation. Minimal, sparse, yet unafraid to lean upon the more popular end of musical significations, his work feels like a semi-ironic exploration of pop culture, approaching its sources as if there were Lego blocks in some wider construction.
A reliance on snapshots of spoken words – old white men discussing scientific breakthroughs and local news – helps to glue together beats and synthetic swooshes, odd inclusions of saxophone or other perky Melodies. Fans of Ghostbox and the other brands of British hauntology might well swoon at this sort of thing, and if that sounds like you I heartily recommend checking out his bandcamp.
You can also hear the full MEANS compilation over at our site, with all money going towards the upkeep of this blog and our forthcoming physical mag.
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