Review – Infant Cycle – Plays Fender Bass Guitars And Bird Cages Of Unknown Origins, Exclusively (The Ceiling)

Rating: 3/5
Prior to the review, it should be noted that Infant Cycle is one of Canada’s best kept secrets, as far as ambient/experimental music is concerned. Although the project was established in the early 90s, few people seemingly know or heard about Jim DeJong’s solo endeavor, which is a shame because he’s unbelievably inventive when it comes to working with sound (and reshaping/modifying it in different ways).
Not that you would realize any of this by listening to “Fender Bass”. Its an extremely brief CD (12 minutes long), which is made even shorter through the employment of various tricks/ways to fill the space  (“which leaves us with a cozy 10-minute set”, as one of the characters in Spinal Tap used to say).
“Shiny Venus (Over S.St)” is a nice new age-y kind of track with all sorts of ambient noises appearing around the main (chiming) motive. Somewhere in the middle, it suddenly starts playing backwards. “Shiny Venus (Detail 1)” is an extremely brief interlude which gives way to a final track.
“Shiny Venus (Detail 2)” is easily the best of all three compositions. Its a moaning and groaning industrial sound collage, which sounds like a long-lost Zoviet-France track circa late 80s.
The quality of the final track, however, is not enough to stop me from saying that if it wasn’t for its lack of ideas, “Fender Bass” would’ve been a great record. As it stands – its a pleasant, but non-essential item from an act that can do so much better than this album.
MP3 Samples: Shiny Venus (Over S.St) / Shiny Venus (Detail 1) / Shiny Venus (Detail 2)
Buy the record via CD Baby and/or Limewire Store
Further Info: The Ceiling