Add N to (X), Avant Hard (Mute) 9-
The trio Add N to (X) are archivists of sorts of obsolete sythesizer technology. They exhume work created by the original innovators like Varese, Xenakis and Moog and on through the 70s with Brian Eno, Suicide and new wave. This vintage synth fetishism could get tiresome had they not congealed into a real band by their second album, last year's On the Wires of Our Nerves and come up with some fresh electro-shock therapy on the tired old nostalgia. By adding theramin expert Steven Claydon, Stereolab's Andy Ramsay the High Llamas' Rob Hallam for their tour, they showed promise as a creative new force in a possible new direction in rock and electronica. Unfortunately they did not benefit from their helpers on Avant Hard, and fell back on the same formulas, often sliding too far into kitsch. With the exception of the propulsive "Metal Fingers In My Body," the album doesn't offer anything their previous album didn't already cover. Danger, Will Robinson, we are caught in a time loop.
