Every once in a while, I run across an album that I feel compelled to dig for something positive to say about. Neil Rolnick’s The Economic Engine is one such example; I almost feel bad for the sour aftertaste I experience from listening to it. Rolnick is a pioneer in the use of computers and digital media in music, and The Economic Engine is a significant commission for the Chinese Central Conservatory of Music.

Sadly, that is the bulk of what can be enjoyed about this album, save for the obvious technical skill of the musicians. When I first slapped this disc on, I had hopeful expectations; the artwork even lent itself to this optimism. Yet, fifty-eight seconds into “Traffic”, a promising start crashed and crumbled into a wreck worthy of Hollywood special effects. Rolnick’s attempts at marrying traditional Chinese instrumentation with Western compositional styles carries a lofty anticipation of success and an interesting new sound. Unfortunately, it’s as much of a disaster as slathering chow mein with cheesy fettuccini sauce. For example, on “Farm to Factory”, I can dig the slow creeping of the cello and viola, but the guqin and huqin (I think…) skittering around and jumping like a fifth grader on a meth binge just don’t meet at a mutual tonal goal. We all have our own subjective tastes, but as a reviewer, it is disappointing to have to suppress the urge to turn an album off altogether.

With The Economic Engine, this is exactly my reaction. “Opaque Air” has the most attractive mix, where late-stage psychotic echo effects blend the rough edges between the acoustic instruments to a point of tolerability. However, this cannot mask the eventual melodic wandering enough to prevent the listener from having an itchy fast-forward button finger. And once that finger has succumbed to those urges, “Hutong to Highrise” comes on. There are some mind-bending effects and electronic touches, but it seems to be merely a hint of what truly gorgeous sounds Rolnick could bring to life if only he calmed down and just envisioned a canvas covered only in the essential layers. There really is something to be said for going too far “out there.” Even acknowledged masters such as John Zorn and Coltrane have, at rare times, earned the dubious honor of being “unlistenable.”

In the end, I’m left with the impression that a bunch of stuffy suit-and-tie museum patron types would be standing around after a live performance of The Economic Engine talking about what wonderful new sounds Rolnick had coaxed out of a strange marriage of styles and sounds, but not really knowing what the hell they were talking about.

In short, for the audience that The Silent Ballet usually draws, I can’t imagine a bunch of t-shirt-and-jeans post-rockers or electronica heads digging on The Economic Engine. It oozes a bit too much of the adult easy listening/new age sound for such a crowd. This is said with an awareness that Rolnick has helped lay part of the foundation for much of the music our community flocks to, but also a keen insight into a time when even a groundbreaker has failed to continue moving forward in the realm of sound.

-Gabriel Bogart