Cepia: Dowry
Ghostly International

With its multi-layered comminglings of clanking beats and melancholy themes, Dowry, the first release from Minneapolis-based Huntley Miller (aka Cepia), follows in the mechanical footsteps of Autechre, Funkstörung, and more recently Traject. The familiarity of its style is more than compensated for by the quality of its tracks, however, even if one (“Gas”) is a mere fragment. On the atmospheric tip, there's the gently percolating “Countrytime” and “L2,” a mournful coda of gauzy ambience. Harder-edged bass pounds and fuzzy skitter enliven “The Marina, The Bank and The Eels” but the title track, where stately melodies stubbornly bleed through entangling tendrils of squawks, whirrs, and clicks, is the real stunner. A strong debut from Mr. Miller.

October 2004