2 out of 5

Label: Southern

Producer: Greg Fey

Ah, okay, this is mostly remixes.  That explains my somewhat annoyance with the recording.  ‘Iron Apple’ is a few minutes of enjoyment backed up by a few more minutes of fiddling with that enjoyment.  Springing from the Chicago scene, instrumentalers Ui nab Tortoise’s laid-back groove and blend it – double bass style – with the momentum of Texan guitar noodlers like Rhythm of Black Lines.  It equals a great opener – Mrs. Lady Lady – that bobs and weaves around a fun tune and bends it to just groovy enough before it becomes too wanky, dropping it into a gloomier shade to balance it out.  This leads into the ponderous ‘Blue Pietro,’ which makes excellent use of space and feedback to create a rather strikingly silent song.  This could have been used to build to something, or as a stepping stone to another style, but instead we take the main theme from ‘Lady’ and ‘Pietro’ and down-tune it for three further tracks, adding some mumbled and annoying vocals atop.  The production credits make mention that these tracks are remixed, and certainly the listener will hear the repeated tunes, but there’s something about the presentation of this being an EP and not, I dunno, an extended single, essentially, that sort of rubs the wrong way.  Those involved also chose the wrong elements to extend for the disc’s length, playing around with the subtler themes such that the excellent energy of track one is allowed to fully dissipate.

An interesting act, for sure, but this is totally supplemental material.