Electronic Recordings from Maui Jungle, Vol. 1

Album review

Best known for producing dozens of cold, pummeling industrial-influenced techno records under the name Surgeon, Anthony Child's second solo album under his given name is a literal departure from all of his previous work. Child packed up his modular synthesizer system and flew to Hawaii, where he recorded these pieces in the lush tropics of Maui. The album feels like a loose, intimate session of live takes and improvisations rather than an album of clinical, academic electronic compositions, and the warm analog tones are surrounded by natural sounds such as chirping birds, buzzing insects, and rainfall. Child's previous album, The Space Between People & Things, also incorporated incidental sounds into its collage of synthesizer drones, but that album felt much darker and more paranoid, with the sounds of a cold, unforgiving city augmenting its chilling electronics. Electronic Recordings from Maui Jungle, Vol. 1 feels warm, calm, and inviting, and even the cosmic arpeggios of tracks like "Mr Naturals" sound earthly and organic rather than cold and distant. At times, it seems like the insects and birds are responding to the music, creating some sort of hybrid nature/analog orchestra. A sense of gloomy drama pervades tracks like the aptly titled "Midnight Rain," so this isn't exactly some sort of Martin Denny exotica journey, but at least it feels like there's a way out, as if all the despair will fade away once the sky clears up and the sun comes up again. Electronic Recordings sounds unlike anything else Child has recorded, and it's a welcome diversion.
© Paul Simpson /TiVo