Subscribe to Posts“Process is how you operate, your routines, your way of thinking, your priorities, your actions. Recursion is the natural tendency towards repetition, oscillation, self-sufficiency…in nature, in movements, in ourselves.”
Process and Recursion is the sophomore album release by Rebuild, a solo project by Shawn Kilmer. Shawn did a damn good job of putting together this latest album. Each song is a dynamic change in overall feel from the song before, yet the songs flow together well and make for a crazy up and down ride. Whatever mood one song puts you in, don’t expect to stay there for very long. In this album everything changes.
To start off I’m drawn into head bobbing along with the Industrial style first track “Ordinalities of the Good Lives” with its upbeat groove and happy melody. The production quality struck me right off as being top notch. So I’m just gliding along to this great beat when everything hits a dead stop, nearly all silence, only echoed spoken words remain. Now throw out the upbeat groove as things simmer down to a slower more somber feel with “Out in the Rain” and “Belief”. I hear chanting. Like I’m in some kind of monk’s temple listening to voices echo out over an old PA system before I’m awoken from this reverie as a new beat rolls in like looming thunder from the clouds.
Things take an even more unexpected turn to a more innocent, folk type feel in “The Old Safe Road”. A song that makes me feel like I’m walking down an old forest path on a summer day not a care in the world just listening to the sounds of the forest. Yet the lyrics make me ponder how much of life’s potential is lost as we repeat our daily habits going down the same old safe road. The album is also chalk full of crazy, strange sounds and spoken words that at times create a very cryptic and dark mood as with “Determinism”. Strange pieces of echoed conversations about something religious, suffering cries, and crazy noises that just make me think of what hell might sound like. Well maybe hell if it had awesome piano music.
Anyway it’s right back again to a more hopeful, happy feel with “Out in the Rain”. The lyrics “My heart beats so bright, don’t lose that light” ringing out reminding me to never let go of my dreams and to hold on to the good in my life. Funny just a second ago I was listening to the sounds of hell, suffering, and echoed thoughts of religion. The dynamics really work to keep things interesting. The album’s last two tracks are also a stark contrast to each other. One a folk style cover of a Cat Stephens tune called “Trouble” and the other, “Hardship” is a crazy tune that sounds like the soundtrack to an eerie, epic movie scene with a crazy man mumbling in the background.
From danceable Industrial beats to somber chanting to folk music, echoed conversations, crazy men mumbling, and the sounds of hell these tracks are a crazy and enjoyable ride. In this album everything changes and I think it’s brilliant. Shawn is quite talented at creating quality, eclectic songs that really put across the emotions and ideas behind them, each in very different ways. My favorite tunes from the album are Ordinalities of the Good Lives, The Old Safe Road, Out in the Rain, and Thanks for Nothing. I’m anxious to hear what Shawn will come up with next. I bet it will sound nothing like anything we’ve heard from him yet.
You can buy Process and Recursion the printed album for 5 bucks or download it for free at MySpace.com/torebuild
