The Blue Quicksand Is Going Now

Mysterious New Zealand-based artist Fis has a confoundingly original sound that is as formless and eerie as the half-dissolved face peering out from his debut album's cover. Following several years' worth of EPs for boundary-pushing labels like Samurai Horo and Tri Angle, which found Fis developing his style from highly abstract drum'n'bass to uncategorizable arrhythmic sound constructions, debut full-length The Blue Quicksand Is Going Now is a bold, uncompromising work that astounds and unsettles. His tracks typically use unnerving, crushing distortion, dismantling hip-hop and drum'n'bass rhythms until they no longer follow any recognizable time signature and are left to stagger around in a confused state. "Social" mixes ghostly chanting with backwards percussion loops and dripping sounds, and "Happy Alone" seems to paper-shred something resembling a grime melody. "Pedal" begins with cascading, rippling piano notes and adds finger snaps and softly shuddering bass. "Frost Pocket" captures some furious grindcore drumming under its multi-layered flurry of icy synths and percussion. Fis' music is intense and chaotic, but there's still a hopeful element to it, as traces of heavenly melodies shine out through the rubble. Slippery and sharp, The Blue Quicksand Is Going Now is as surrealist, shapeshifting, and potentially lethal as its title suggests. ~ Paul Simpson|