Article
Michael Robinson

Albums
34423
The Analog Session
ASC
Black Mental vs L. H. Path
Dewa Budjana
Cam Butler
Caragnano & Dozzy
Digitonal
D'Onofrio & Lyn
Dronelock and Ontal
Harris Eisenstadt
Elian
The Eye Of Time
Kit Wilmans Fegradoe
Forrest Fang
Godspeed You! Black E.
Wayne Horvitz
Huntsville
HVOB
Labfield
Monobody
Oscar Mulero
M. Ostermeier
Eliesha Nelson
offthesky
Papir
Piano Interrupted
Qibe
Re-UP
Bruno Sanfilippo
Martin Schulte
Patrice Scott
Soft Machine
Matt Starling
stilllife
Mark Wingfield
Toshiyuki Yasuda
zmi

Compilations / Mixes
BamaLoveSoul On Deck 3
Embark 05
Nummer Eins

EPs / Cassettes / DVDs / Mini-Albums / Singles
Dominik Eulberg
eyesix
Jones & Gregson
Pavemental
Soul Clap / Sphynx
Andrew Weathers
Jeremy Young

eyesix: Conet Communications Workshop
Sparkwood Records

Let's first state the obvious: eyesix's Conet Communications Workshop is so reminiscent in style of Boards of Canada, it would be disingenuous to pretend otherwise. The twenty-two-minute EP features seven short tracks that could just as easily, it seems, be the handiwork of Boards of Canada alchemists Michael Sandison and Marcus Eoin as Jason Dowd (aka eyesix). And, just as the preceding statement might lead one to expect, the EP's material includes its fair share of warbling synth patterns and samples of children's voices.

To be fair, Dowd executes the material skillfully, and the EP offers a consistently stimulating listening experience. He combines crisp downtempo beats, woozy synth melodies, and atmospheric ear candy (speaking voices, twittering birds) into concise song structures in a way that's never less than engaging, and any attempt to resist the seaside swoon of “Brú na Bóinne” proves well nigh impossible. And if we're being completely honest, some pieces feature sound designs so satisfyingly realized (e.g., “Monarch Shortwave”), one imagines Sandison and Eoin would be happy to claim them as their own.

If your one of those fanatics with an insatiable appetite for all things Boards of Canada, then Conet Communications Workshop may very well feel, then, like manna from heaven. But if you're someone who'd rather see an artist forge his/her own sound instead of working within territory already established by another, the release will likely appeal less. Put simply, Boards of Canada's sound is so indelible, it renders the output of acolytes, no matter how sincerely intended, superfluous.

April 2015