Insectoid MP3s

Machines may not yet have gained sentience, but in Paul Feyertag‘s work they certainly achieve an insectoid fervor. The opening track on Suburban Decollage, “Contrary Motion,” suggests a nightmarish scenario of constant death in the classic arcade game Centipede, whose familiar 8-bit synthetic tones were as chunky and mechanoid as the avatars to whose battles they lent a soundtrack (MP3). The later “Ostinato” has a thick overlay of burbling noise, but just below is a quickly shifting hive of activity (MP3). Of the four tracks on Suburban Decollage, the real keeper is “Drone/Musing,” which in headphones can come across as a tinny prickle of static, but which when played on proper speakers evidences Feyertag’s attention to minute details; shards of harsh noise spring from the bristling quietude (MP3), even if no further insect metaphors apply. The album is the latest free download from the Luvsound netlabel (luvsound.org).