the binary marketing show
clues from the past (Self-Released)
Reviewed by Vivian Hua
An experimental lo-fi project which falls somewhere between a backwoods campfire jam session and an electronic crapshoot in a dingy basement, the binary marketing show’s latest 6-track EP, clues from the past, is certainly a fascinating listen that will really, really appeal to a select demographic. Perhaps that demographic is you.
A collaboration between Abram Morphew, who “survived months in a dense forest battling heavy rain and unruly winds” and Bethany Carder, who, “awaking from a hypnotic state induced by a small band of mystics, experienced violent spasms, fits of percussive motion, and waves of electricity bursting from her limbs,” the duo’s description of itself also describes its music to a tee. By harnessing a world of energy, scrambling it up, and regurgitating it back out in deliberately mysterious ways, the duo really knows how to craft music that feels simplistic and moody — in a movie soundtrack sort of way — without being at all boring.
“the vanishing,” like its title, relies on distant vocals which disappear and reappear only to be scrambled by electronics. “nintendo” survives on a pulsing backbeat with almost comically dramatic touches of horns and synths, and “unwilling” clicks and clatters its way into atypically comfortable zones, and all of the songs combined give the EP an atmosphere of dark and playful wonder.