Another "Iris" Review

Sunday, September 30, 2007 Here's a great review from Hypnagogue

Mikronesia, Iris or Comfortable Too
Mere moments after the first tender piano notes of Iris or Comfortable Too, you know you're headed off to interesting territory. The sound suddenly wavers like a disturbed reflection in water and swarms of electronic burble begin to move under the surface. From there it just gets more intricate as composer Michael McDermott takes Eno-esque ambient piano and tugs, tears, and twists it, submitting it to a host of electronic treatments to create new, unique aural textures. His manipulations run from the extreme to the subtle. In "No Rage" the notes are picked apart element by element and stitched back together in a rough quilt of beautiful, glitch-ridden imperfection. "(The) Lye Owl" is a slow and graceful piece built on carefully layered atmospherics with a distinctly dramatic tone. "Genre" and the closer, "Oil Vet", leave the piano mostly alone as McDermott applies a comparatively lighter hand to the effects and distortions, and his playing show itself as elegant and thoughtful. ("Genre" spends it last minute in a pleasant shower of effects.) "Nyca" throbs its way in like a subtly shifting waveform trying itself out over and over, changing ever so slightly on each pass. "Lebu" rolls in with a sparse, dark beauty, hard-played chords left to stand alone and drift apart in echo, the space between each becoming thick with expectancy.
Since I was compelled to listen to this CD three times straight through right from the get-go, it's definitely a Hypnagogue Highly Recommended CD.

If you haven't picked up a copy yet, please take a listen to the sound samples and pick up a copy at CD Baby