Land of the Loops
Puttering about a Small Land
[Slabco/Up]
Rating: 7.3
It's easy to see how people could find Land of the Loops nauseating.
Alan Sutherland's melodies are as cute and sweet as a glitter-speckled
marshmallow bunny, and his warm, gurgly synthesizer lines are among the
cuddliest machine noises in recorded history. For more cynical types,
getting snug as a bug with Land of the Loops is about as appealing as
Wolfie covering ABBA's back catalog.
What these people fail to grasp is the inherent tension in Land of the
Loops' electronic twee pop. This music is actually a studied reaction
to damaged childhood-- an attempt to return to a safe, silken womb that
provides shelter to the wide-eyed innocent. As a listener, the complexity
lies in briefly tasting this comfort while realizing that it will someday
be snatched away; that's why those sampled voices on Bundle of Joy's
"Muli-Family Garage Sale" keep intoning, "Bill, don't leave me!" and
"Where are we, anyway?"
Bundle of Joy, it should be acknowledged now, was something of a
minor masterpiece. Though all sorts of lo-fi electronic pop records have
sprung up in the last three years, none could match its distinctive sound
world and trance-inducing melodies. It was such a perfect realization of
a particular vision, it was hard to imagine how Sutherland might follow it
up. Would he try something completely different?
Quick answer: No. With Puttering about a Small Land, we find that
Sutherland must have been in love with his former sound, too, as he
follows the blueprint of his first full-length almost to the letter. But
while I have to dock him a few points for repeating himself, it still
sounds great. So, what the hell? If you like Bundle of Joy, and
you want more of the same, buy this one, too.
Puttering about a Small Land features more straight-up pop songs
with vocals than Bundle of Joy. Three tracks feature the singing
of Takako Minekawa, a pairing that works as well on record as it sounds
on paper. "How to Feed a See Monkey," a swirling sonic Jacuzzi awash in
bubbly atmosphere, is the best of her contributions. Former Beat Happening
vocalist and frequent Sutherland collaborator Heather Lewis punches in
with "Fresh Pond Parkway," a catchy track that previously appeared on the
Hurry Up and Wait EP, and the even better "Patience" (not the Guns
N' Roses song).
Of the instrumental bed, Sutherland still combines vocal samples, impossibly
warm synthesizers, and clumsy beats into an organic whole. While the sound
bears the mark of his tools, Puttering about a Small Land slows things
down a bit, remaining wistful while curtailing some of the tired humor. Some
of these tracks would actually sound great spliced into a set of more
challenging ambient music, a testament to Sutherland's ability to evoke a
mood and his skill with the sampler.
-Mark Richard-San