Made up of Mark Fell (of SND fame) and Jez Potter (some DJ from Sheffield who isn’t famous), Shirt Trax presents an extremely unstable sonic environment. Alternating between extreme sonic detail and almost unhinged chaos, it is an uneven but ultimately interesting listen.
When asked about their process, Mark stated that they were aware of the academic history of real-time mixing, but weren’t interested in it. The fact that some compelling work happened on the fly is admirable. Apparently they didn’t want to have to set up some giant system to work with. Those of you familiar with SND will certainly understand this, since that duo’s work is almost painstakingly well-organized.
Yes, there are references to techno and structure, particularly in the sarcastic track “B-Parent” which is easily the most immediately enjoyable track on here. Actual beats are used, recognizable as beats. Stops and bizarre clicks are part of the template. Everything moves at some sort of ungodly speed.
Not the entire album has this take. Other tracks focus on the absolute minute details of structure and timbre “aF"fear” and “Ab-Remem”. Unfortunately though, there is a lot of filler on here. Other parts seem to last way too long without saying much. “Crtl”, which closes out the album, falls afoul of this. Lasting almost 17 minutes, it meanders about without doing anything.
Had there been a stricter editing process, some of these dregs could have been removed. However, it still retains a certain perverse charm in its casual indifference to such common things as structure, melody, evolution, etc. For all its flaws, it remains a unique album.