+ONE: Bare Necessities

+one-bn.jpg (10k) +ONE: Bare Necessities
(deFocus - 2000)

Sean Spencer is +ONE; add his singular synth-compositions with co-production from Plaid and you'll find an enticingly peculiar brand of electronica...

The cheerfully rambling ditties of Bare Necessities are crisp, clean and joyous. Synthesized sunshine illuminates interestingly crooked pathways through a cartoony funland.

Circus-like organ tones are battered by tiny robotic percussion as STICKER evolves into a peppy, happily bouncing entity of warm motes and twangy snippets. Bite into a dancier groove as NIBBLE chews up and spits out bubbling lows, twinkling highs and shapeless drifts, all to tight computerized syncopation. Quirky keyboarding occurs on various levels, all comingling somehow to become bright, blippy YIP.

Light and effervescent moods emanate from SHAO as lilting organ notes traipse through sunny zones. Jungle flavors give METRO (4:31) that tropicana-techno feel which so many Black Dog tracks reveled in. Instead of sleepwalking, you'll be dream-dancing through the vibrant-yet-dozy percolations of HELIX, a nocturnal romp of blips, beats and lush e-notes.

Spunky drumbeats intertwine with electronic driblets as ARABESK (7:36) forms entrancing patterns. From an odd haze, tunefully chiming belltones and sweeping symphonic undertones are peppered by busy rhythmications; LIST unfolds as a sweet confluence of all those things... the lovely track switches into a murkier mode of equally-appealing darkness from which its former beauty arises again... it just makes me ache. 45 seconds of silence gives way to a hyper-flanged, ultra-oscillating current flowing into a closing stream of drift-and-drum.

Creatively expansive arrangements allow +ONE's energetic pieces to wander without deviating too far from their individual themes. More than an hour of Bare Necessities's intricate ativities can give that pleasantly worn-out feeling comparable to that following an afternoon romp... the exertion is good for you! An 8.5 rating.

Yet another of Dutch East India's incredibly diverse offerings...

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This review posted February 28, 2001

AmbiEntrance © 2001-1997 by David J Opdyke (except CD cover art, rights retained by original owners).