Lesionread’s latest
EP, I gave my robot a brain and it got scared and turned herself off, is a bright light in the warp speed microcosm
that Lewis created this year. It’s unifying and personal, but it’s also dark
and assuming. It needs to keep moving or it will crack and bleed. Each track (there
are 37) is a piece of earth, a chunk of metal, the slippery lips of a
cavern. According to Lewis, the EP was inspired by Dan Deacon, Department of
Eagles, and Dirty Projectors, especially their early, less conventional work.
So it’s no surprise it has an amorphous, amebic quality; what does surprise me
is how solid the framework is. Little arms of goofiness splatter the experience with somewhat unoriginal bullshit (Lewis counts to 100 on a track; a Yodaesque voice alerts the listener to the
shared human experience of having first-day-jitters; a Spotify ad interrupts the
EP midway; we recognize the calm voices of the local music world), but the music itself—the beats, the lyrics, the core—is beautiful.
The major course of
Lesionread’s robot is cinematic and modern. The phrase, “I’m happy I’m changing
with you” repeats on one track, while the music solders like a hexachord. Every
purely musical track is stronger than the one before it, though there are moments
of intense brilliance throughout. By the end, the music is simply excellent. Sunspots,
robots, and the tiniest human notions, all rolled up into a hot little diamond.
Lesionread and
fellow Buffalo electronic musician Kristachuwan are touring now (#LK2013), casting a
handful of shimmering dust wherever they go. Check them out, and get Lesionread’s music, including I gave my robot a brain and it got scared
and turned herself off, here.
