They Missed the Perfume

Album Review

Recorded entirely on a Macintosh G4, They Missed the Perfume began its life as a 40-minute-long experimental piece of music centering around the song "Mindless Dribble." Using entirely computerized beats programmed by drummer Sam Altman, the band created the disc in small chunks, manipulating and rearranging them on-screen. Though eventually split and articulated into several tracks ("Mindless Dribble," "Highwire," "Spacebirdmatingcall," and "I Remember When..."), the electro-dub jam at the center of "Mindless Dribble" still became the centerpiece of the album. Though sterile at times, the electronic beats mesh surprisingly well with the live guitar. Occasionally, the arrangements venture into trite post-hippie anthemia (such as on the ending of "Home Again" or the new age build of "Haleakala Crater"), though the bulk of the album is pleasantly restrained. Mixed with a good sense of sonic depth, the disc continues to yield surprises far beyond most studio releases of the genre.