Minibloc

Cut-up electro-acoustic performances can go down any number of ways — full on, cat-swinging mayhem, subtle layers of fuzz and scratch emulating peacefully, hyperactive assault plans being unleashed on unsuspecting audiences. Montreal’s Minibloc incorporate a bit of all these modes into their masterful hum and found sound cut-up, but are certainly sitting on the more restrained and articulate side of the fence. Mostly comprised of field recorded randomness (busses passing, kitchen implements) being spliced up and realigned in ways that provide new contexts for the sounds at play and somehow manage to make the sounds of the everyday suddenly extraordinary, Carton, Micro, Récréation sounds like what Matmos might come up with if they dropped the beats that act as glue in their compositions, or even more accurately, if Toronto’s cut-up noise kings Gastric Female Reflex were more well mannered (though both GFR and Minibloc credit eating pizza as an influence to their music). So for a greasy, slip-shod aesthetic of imaginative chaos, this debut full-length by Minibloc (following a highly hyperactive three-inch CD-R released last year) should send you sliding down the right path.