Micronomic

This five-track EP may be a bald-faced stopgap release, designed to keep the fans happy while work continues on the next album, but it's a remarkably well-thought-out stopgap effort and a very attractive one. It opens with the title track, which is taken from the Faking the Books album and very nicely juxtaposes organic guitar sounds with a claustrophobic drum loop and sweetly melodic but rather laconic vocals. This track is then followed by a remixed version by Boom Bip, a fairly radical reworking of the material that almost wholly eliminates the singing while deconstructing the music itself into a glitchy, statical cloud of rhythm. "Daily Match" and "Harrison Reverse" both seem to be outtakes from the Faking the Books sessions, and although it's hard to see why the former wasn't chosen for inclusion, the latter does come across as an attractive and promising sketch rather than a fully formed song. The Alias remix of "Alienation," another Faking the Books album track, starts off delicately funky and then gradually picks up mass and momentum as it proceeds. Very satisfying overall. ~ Rick Anderson