4.0 out of 5 stars
ISAN - Clockwork Menagerie, February 24, 2011
This review is from: Clockwork Menagerie (Audio CD)
CLOCKWORK MENAGERIE, a collection of older and rare Isan tracks, emerge from the Boards of Canada school of IDM, but with a pedigree all its own. With simple melodies and rhythms, they craft outwardly benign songs with heavy emotional undercurrents thrumming beneath. "Betty's Lament," for instance, is quietly beautiful, with a child's sense of wonder about the universe. But lest you think it's all melancholy and nostalgia, "Damil 85" comes along with a freeform wobbliness. Not all the tracks are as well-developed, however, but with short running times, they delight the ears just long enough to avoid getting too repetitive. The chiding vocal sample and childish tones of "Rron" is like Emily Post's music box. At turns subtle and beguiling, you can wind this clockwork up again and again.
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