Freeform Albums (6)
What The Critics Say
Despite releasing a plethora of albums in addition to a wealth of releases for such notables as Worm Interface, Language, Skam, and Warp, Simon Pyke's music has remained enviably untainted and sanguine. This, his fifth full-length, continues where he left off on Me Shape with a unique blend of often-creepy, occasionally comical electronica which shuffles indecisively from the morose "Sopping Wet" -- where it takes a Latin rhythm to lift an oppressive combination of industrial clanks and clouded synths -- to the self-esteem-stricken "I Hope You Like It." These maudlin beats will be lapped up by followers of Autechre and their ilk, though they are perhaps best kept away from those with an uneasy disposition. ~ Kingsley Marshall, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
While the overwhelming majority of Freeform's released work has involved a certain thumbing of nose and extending of tongue, Simon Pyke's first release for Bobby Bird's (ex-Higher Intelligence Agency's) Headphone label is surprisingly serious. More subdued than past releases such as Elastic Speakers and Prowl, Pattern Tub is similarly intricate, trading brashness for subtlety, but maintaining the level of compositional complexity that carried his previous albums. While the closing track -- 15 minutes of mostly untreated traffic sounds gathered via Pyke's bedroom window -- is an unfortunate cap to an otherwise excellent album, "Poundland" and "Monza Lecta" (the latter a duet with Bit-Tonic's Iris Garrelfs) are some of Pyke's most original songs to date. ~ Sean Cooper, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Although his earlier releases for Worm Interface, Warp, and Skam were notable for their blunt abuse of rhythmic convention, Simon Pyke's second full-length for WI (his first being Elastic Speakers) is a minimal question mark of apparently beatless (thought not lacking in percussion) ambient/electronica. Constraining himself to only three or four textural flavors through the course of 12 tracks, Pyke constructs a fascinating series of sonic vignettes (many under three or four minutes), each like a little sonic puzzle the logic of which is slowly revealed through repeat listenings. Quite a bit different, then, from the audacity of his previous work, but fantastic nonetheless. ~ Sean Cooper, All Music Guide
'Elastic Speakers'
Release Date 1/1/1995
Tracks 14
Label Worm Interface
See Album Tracklist and Review
What The Critics Say
Simon Pyke uses clever synth patterns and eclectic techno rhythms on this refreshing album. ~ John Bush, All Music Guide
