A Choir Of Empty Beds

With Aphex Twin on sabbatical and Micro-Ziq relatively happy favoring electro over emotion, B. Fleischmann has taken up the slack to make an album of brittle, sweet electronic gurglings. A Choir of Empty Beds is an entirely successful entry in the genre that might be calledintrospection'n'bass. Echoing the substance of his Morr Music peers, these nine songs wouldn't sound out of place on a circa 1968 Stanley Kubrick film. Of course, the film would have to contain a pathos absent in the work of Kubrick, because songs like "It's All So," "Sono," and the touching "Good Bye" are pristinely serene. The keyboards and odd, bubbling electronics seem to cry as expert knob twidder Fleischmann infuses the tracks with a remarkable sense of feeling. It's a rare thing when this high a level of emotion is sustained throughout 60 minutes of experimental electronic music. It's not that the instruments wail and sound mournful; Fleischmann expresses emotion through repetitive, pretty melodies. There is also a great sense of play to much of the album. "Play the Big A" brings to mind the "kid in a candystore" cliche; it's a track that's as fun as it is untouchably beautiful. Each song works as a minimalist symphony to happiness and/or existence. "Start" clicks, flutters, and struts like a Mouse on Mars track with more warmth. Warmth really is the dominant feeling of the album; Fleischmann presents a relatively stark contrast to the icy madness of Aphex Twin, even though the instruments and overall sound have so much in common. This is an album for fans of electronic music who favor feelings over style. ~ Tim DiGravina