Articles
Robert Henke
Deepchord and Soultek

Albums
Amoebazoid
Boy Is Fiction
BTB
Calika
Vic Chesnutt
Enrico Coniglio
Eric Copeland
Deadbeat
Deepchord : Echospace
Ditch
Terrence Dixon
Brian Ellis
Reinhold Friedl
The Green Kingdom
Marc Hannaford
Hrsta
K. Leimer
Lights Out Asia
Nebula 3
Netherworld
Le Peuplier de Simon
Po
Portable
Lou Reed
Jeffrey Roden
Skallander
Swod
Gregory Taylor
Telephone Jim Jesus
Pau Torres
Tunng
Rolan Vega
Robert Vincs
Warmth
Otomo Yoshihide

Compilations / Mixes
Sander Kleinenberg
One Point Two
Total 8

3"/ 7"/ 10"/ 12"/ EPs
Adultnapper
Arrow!!!
Ascoltare
Beneva vs. Clark Nova
Cinematic Orchestra
Deepchord : Echospace
Easy Changes
Fink
Peter Grummich
The Heavy
Isomer Transition
Laptik
Larytta
Nadja
Pendle Coven
Polvere
Redhooker
Spied
Andy Stott
Torrance & Hochstrate
Andy Vaz

Boy Is Fiction: Boy Is Fiction
List Records

Background information on Boy Is Fiction is scarce so the ten tracks on his solid debut set of emotive electronica will have to suffice. Stately piano melodies are the nucleus around which the Australian artist assembles his material. A given song opens with a reverb-heavy weave of pretty piano melodies, then swells dramatically as more instruments appear, with the whirr and click of hefty drum machine beats often offsetting the melancholy mood established by the piano playing. Electronic effects and guitar add texture (a factory machine-like churn provides contrasting counterpoint to the stirring tones that shudder through the generally placid “I'll Look for You”), and push the sound into a blurry zone that resembles a slow-motion meeting ground between ambient and shoegaze.

There's a definite trajectory to the album with the more restrained first half eventually giving way to heavier and aggressive tracks like “Glue/Let Me Think” and “Say Ah” that, in their most aggressive moments, rise to a scalding, beehive roar. In the opening songs, bell-like electric piano tones tinkle brightly in “Bif vs 307”and stately melodies ripple through the late night air in “Why Did You Do That.” Halfway through, organ tones lend “Stack is Bad” a church-like ambiance while crisp funk beats animate “If You Hear Me Fall.” “The Bits in the Numbers” closes the album dramatically with deep synth lines and epic drumming. The journey-like feel is bolstered by the absence of gaps between its ten pieces. If Boy Is Fiction isn't necessarily an overly innovative release on stylistic grounds, it's certainly an accomplished and well-executed debut.

September 2007