Michael Santos

In a pleasingly understated way, The Happy Error's percussive elements are born from its soft electrical crackles and hisses. Its subtle melodies emerge from delicate harmonic shifts, and all the atmospheric whirs, pops and drones envelope its melancholic character in a gently fluctuating audio field. While The Happy Error does skim the thin border between cinematic ambient and mood-enhancing sound art, there is surprising warmth to all the atmospheric glitch. Michael Santos's embrace of the less-is-more aesthetic allows his digitized stream to successfully transcend its circuit board womb. Rising above mere lullabies for androids, The Happy Error emerges somewhat musically undefined but is both intimate and ultra-soothing to the human ear.