Aspects of Physics :: MIF3 Review
2009-08-12
Limewire
http://blog.limewire.com/posts/24065-album-review-aspects-of
You've got to pretty serious about something to make it into a trilogy, and that's exactly what San Diego's Aspects of Physics have done with their Marginalized Information Forms series (They really have a thing for clinical-sounding names, don't they?). Over five years and three albums, MIF has explored the connections between rock and electronics, sometimes striking a relatively even balance (the first volume), sometimes leaning toward a more electronic approach (the second), and this time around, making a more visceral impact with a sound that features guitar and live drums squarely at its center. That's not to say the synths have disappeared, though -- there's still plenty of electronic buzzing, bleeping, and blaring in between the cyclical guitar patterns and syncopated grooves, making for a sound that falls somewhere between the streamlined electro-rock of Trans Am and, in the album's louder moments, a more tech-savvy Explosions In The Sky. Aspects of Physics have obviously learned their lessons from the '90s -- one one hand, the post-rock adventures of Tortoise et al, and on the other, the avant-IDM universe of Mouse On Mars and their ilk, but it's all seamlessly incorporated into a style that succeeds on its own terms.
