"I think technology may have some benefits for a smart brain, but no capacity to produce compassion," said the Dalai Lama at a recent peace summit in Vancouver, BC. True understanding of other people cannot take place online. Cars and iPods collapse us inward, and much of today's fast-paced economic climate features products that pander to individuals, not community. Long distance relationships are lacking that special something that the heart needs. More and more people everywhere are talking to each other over large distances, and that includes musicians. Arc Lab’s Medard Fischer and Near The Parenthesis’ Tim Arndt might have still never met, but since 2007 they've been collaborating as Down Review, despite the Dalai Lama's challenge.
Billed as a warm and luscious affair with a human touch, their debut EP, From Here, For Anyone, begins with a shimmery guitar progression laced with backward chimes, sounding dangerously close to Matt Brown's Disinterested project. The groove kicks in with programmed snares snapping like rodents' wrists and a rich bass synth sound, and it seems like everything is going well. Maybe a little too well. What strikes the ear is not how cleanly mixed everything is, but the fact that it sounds too clean. Using an analog synthesizer does not guarantee a human feeling, and if anything, this first track is about as human as hand sanitizer. Humans tend to make mistakes, but this music sounds very programmed and by-the-numbers, which might be expected from a couple producers with access to a wealth of sound tools who have never met face to face.
It's not all clinical. Second track "Archive" is easily the pick of the bunch, sounding much more spritely, and animated by a more self-aware motivation. The skittery drum programming is wonderfully dense and varied, but not overly busy, with slow chordal melodies easing their way through the seams. Down Review let this song happen, rather than playing electro-dictators, and end things nicely with a solid fuzzy refrain that glimmers knowingly. The affectionate bent tapers off here, and we move more into "programmed to love" territory, with "Always Enough" featuring a sad android voice awkwardly huffing "I can feel" (my best guess), which is repeated for a nauseating duration.
This brings to mind Plaid, a couple of producers who can write some pretty energetic, synthetic gems and totally captivate the human heart. Down Review are trying to do this, but so far their first attempt runs more like a televised parade where everything goes according to plan. There are no unexpected turns or anomalies in their world. It's all very safe, making the nostalgic plateau they strive for seem a bit overzealous. Compared to groups like the Abbasi Brothers, who play like children within their songs, Down Review are a bit stiff with their first EP, right down to the plain title. One can imagine that given the broader scope of a full album, they might stretch their legs, take off their boots and let loose a bit.
-Nayt Keane