Diagram of Suburban Chaos :: Status Negatives Review
2002-03-01
Digital Artifact
Though I have focused my global search on maintaining an active and open eye for new electro-organic talent, there always seems to be one artist or collective who inadvertently gets overlooked. That is just the nature of the game, but what I like most is being hit blindside by an artist who takes the wind right out of me and sends me into a tail spin. Diagram of Suburban Chaos is just that type of collision I was not expecting but welcomed with a wide open-arm embrace. My first impression is that the smooth electro-organic beats, dictated by a conceptual rhythm by both man and machine, are some of the best tracks Autechre never created. The multi-layered textures that appear on Status Negatives revolve around complex and sometimes-simple rhythm equations that make the entire album tight and work like a machine. It would be cliché to say that the sum of this LP’s parts are greater than the whole, but that is exactly what Willam Collin Snavely has achieved. Expect the unexpected and that is exactly what you will experience.
There is a constant flux and forward motion one can feel on each and every one of 15 tracks appearing on Status Negatives. Sometimes when an artist works within the electro-organic trenches, there is a tendency to design beat progressions that are less rhythmic and patterned and more disruptive and skittish. Diagram of Suburban Chaos has maintained a unique balance of pattern and disruption to produce a fully functioned, alive and evolving sound structure that is fueled by conflicting emotions and
thought processes, first hand experiences and bystander
perspectives.
There is a very classical element at times that rears its head during unexpected instances, adding a nice and flavored interval element to this uniquely progressive mechanism mold. The music of Status Negatives is purely a diagram of suburban chaos, and I firmly believe that is the most valid and original angle one can construct their music from.
-Brad Anderson
