alias

muted

'Ambient music can be the cold, undead genre of the music world. For all the effort put into deciphering a drum machine and keyboards, it can be too technical, too soulless. There is an excessive amount of effort involved for a product that seems predestined to sound like the soundtrack to an intense drama or sci-fi show. As may often be the intent, the music comes off as spooky.

The possibility of coming across a talent who can get around that barrier is slim when you consider the percentage of people who have abandoned traditional instruments in hopes that a laptop or a turntable can be their redeeming musical tools. Unfortunately, not every titanium-Mac-G4-laptop-wielding kid has latent musical talent. It just means that person probably has or comes from more money than the rest of us. So heed this advice: go buy some records instead of making them.

After such a lengthy diatribe, Alias' case seems doomed. Not necessarily. This is just too subjective a matter and too new of a genre to be reviewed by a person who would trade a hi-fi, well-produced CD for a worn-out cassette tape any day.

In Alias' defense, there is something inherently intelligible in his music. Albeit abstract, the thought behind "Muted"'s compositions is evident. The textures are arguably not basic progressions run through multiple filters until something novel was produced. There are strict blueprints for each song.

Alias grew up a drummer affected at an early age by hip hop music. Being from Maine, hip hop was most likely hard to come by, but he made the effort to find and study it. As a result, he has earned the respect of some of the finest beat-makers in the industry, including The Roots, with whom he has toured, and The Notwist, who's helping hand was lent during the creation of this album.

"Muted" is an album that, regardless of personal taste, commands respect. If for nothing else, it would make a pretty kick-ass soundtrack to the TV shows "Alias" or "24."rn