Woebot – Chunks 8.2

              ‘Chunks’ feels apt for this release. While his previous release ‘Moanad’ felt a bit more scattered or fragmented, here he teases out grooves. The songs, though still packed to the brim with weird samples, feel better fleshed out. In case you were wondering, Matt Ingram has his off-sense of humor in full display on this album. 

                Woebot doesn’t sample pointless soloing. Rather, weird pieces of sound are brought together. They come together to form something new. I know this is the point for a lot of sample-based music, but usually they don’t succeed on creating something new. He does.

                “Blues” for me at least, shows off the method used on most of the album. Though the arrangement is still quirky, it is greater than the sum of its parts. Previously his other material had shown off of his good taste than an ability to create an effective song. Here, the taste is still in view, but they are now full songs.

                Some of these songs are even relatively long. “Trans-Love Energies” manages to somehow take bits from elevator music and make it into something silly, funny even. Curd Duca comes to mind specifically. I don’t know how he quite pulls this off, but it probably one of the better tracks on here. 

 

                Other songs show off origins from heavy rock (like “Rusticle”) or random bits (like “Sludgie”). You need to have a sense of humor to really enjoy this album. Also, being a total music snob helps as well, as there is a certain joy in picking out where these snippets might have originated.These songs might require a few listens as they definitely grow on you.

Woebot - Moanad 6.6

               Oh, woe is bot. Though Matthew Ingram has some good ideas here, he doesn’t quite put them together into a satisfying way the same way “The Focus Groups” does. Nonetheless, it doesn’t mean the album (or EP, since it is only 20 minutes) lacks any sort of interesting detail. Matthew’s focus is heavy enough to sort of make up for this shortfall.

                For one, he uses precious few elements. All of the samples are purely British in origin. His guitar is reconfigured around these samples. I personally am a bit of an Anglophile, so the samples win me over a bit. Though I know he works in a fragmented framework, I feel the fragments feel a bit too jagged. Other ‘hauntology’ or whatever you want to call them groups work since they blur the lines. His transitions are too abrupt a lot of the time. “The Hook” sort of is a prime example of this problem.

                What he really succeeds at are the longer, more fully-formed songs. Fragments escape him, but a song with a complete melody and chorus work best for him. Towards the end of this very short collection of songs, I’m shown some of his true capabilities. “Goat’s Wool” sounds transported from some early Smiths’ demo. In other words, it is great.

                This is sort of a hit-and-miss EP. Personally, I am interested. The parts that work intrigue me and I hope he continues this project. Maybe a later release will come along that will convert me a bit more.