Who'd have thought a cute soccer mum could melt Kid606's heart? Before he was smitten by her playful passing and spot kicks, Kid606 was the ear-shredding vandal of IDM. Not only did N.W.A. get a beating from our Kid on his reworking of "Straight Outta Compton," and Public Enemy on "It'll Take Millions in Plastic Surgery to Make Me Black," but also far softer targets, as on "Luke Vibert Can Kiss My Indiepunk Whiteboy Ass." On his own label, Tigerbeat6, 606 offered up tracks to like-minded hooligans and released We are All Winners, an ironic title unless you consider "winning" to be when all participants leave the session in tatters and with hearing impediments.

The tranquility of The Soccergirl EP is as shocking as any of Kid606's brutal gabber. Over seven tracks, he reaches back to the early days of ambient and retextures it with his signature shards of white noise (albeit at a greatly diminished intensity). And in the process, he proves just how much of a big- hearted softie he really is.

After the gliding Tonefloat drones of "Start," Kid606 describes a "Defective Boy" in very David Kristian terms. Though a kick drum lurks deep within the foggy mix, it's the insistent burbles that propel the track. By the midway point, a tiny percussion set vainly strives to fill out the high end.

Kid606 treats the forlorn "If My Heart Ever Ran Away" with similar poetic care. The referencing here is less to early Kraftwerk, and more towards any number of Pete Namlook collaborations. A sequencer line dominates and answers the "if" clause of the title with, "Then life would be repetitive, echo-y, and indistinguishable." But listen closely as 606 tweaks the surrounding sounds just enough to hint that he's lying through his teeth. Playing such tricks is a gamble, of course, but as this track clarifies, he's more than capable of pulling it off.

From toying with Namlook, he takes on Tangerine Dream (their wasted Street Hawk years rather than the high magick of Zeit) during "Thank You for Being My Angel," but I sense some insincerity in his gratitude. Though the track is louder and fuller than the preceding one, it lacks any elegiac nuance. It's bold, brash, and conveys very little-- a perfect show-off!

The Soccergirl concludes as it began: serenely. "Over" hints at Oval's wounded disc schtick as Kid606 props up these delicate sounds with even softer layers. And just as we've become adjusted to this Kid's dreamy, gentle side, the disc ends. In retrospect, the strategy enacted here was pretty obvious. 606's previous material had so brutalized us that to go any further would be to flog a dying horse. Employing restraint and tranquility, Kid606 has startled us once again. Goal!

-Paul Cooper