Onethema: Sticks For Bits
Underscan

Apparently Simon Petre (aka Onethema) studies anthropology at Goldsmith's University in London when he's not trolling the internet for free synthesis software and assembling sounds into random compositions. Petre embraces experiment and accident as key catalysts in the development of his sonic mutations, four of which are heard on Sticks For Bits. Certainly the standard arsenal of electronic sounds is here—prickly static emissions, morphing splatter, scratchy beats—but, reminiscent of Confield in general style as well as fractured spirit, the pieces seldom cohere into distinguished compositions. They meander, much like wayward electronic jams, and, not surprisingly, Onethema's music impresses most (the delicate “Windon,” for example, with its melancholy keyboard melody and clattering rhythms) when it emphasizes memorable melodies and clearly defined compositional structures.

February 2005