| In human anatomy, the limbic system is the evolutionarily ancient part of the brain that regulates emotion. When you experience that mix of rage and futility after you've discovered the girl you're still not over is about to be married, or when your heart begins to beat faster as you find yourself alone in the wrong part of the city at 2am, or when you're relaxing in a warm bath of childhood nostalgia, that's the limbic system at work. Forgive the brothers Michael and Jared Bell their irritatingly cute spelling, but they're spot on with the name: their instrumental electronica/post-rock is designed to bypass all our critical, higher order brain functions and go straight for the emotional jugular. Like most film scores, their aim is to evoke moods and feelings with their music, but they do so in a way that never seems manipulative, sentimental, or contrived. They rarely proffer more than a cursory impression, some outline of a larger shape; the listener takes that and, with all the free-association available to him, runs with it. For example, the intro "Rest Easy/Age Kindly" seems to be building to something. There's a sense of gradual awakening, an impending break or catharsis. The Bell brothers never make good on this. Instead they forfeit the anticipation for a melodic synth line that leads into another cul-de-sac. But the limbic system has nothing to do with rational thought, and so every time I hear this very basic but wonderful track, I eagerly await and construct a resolution that simply will never come. And though Love Your Abuser doesn't segue seamlessly from track to track, it distorts perception and memory enough to seem like it does. There's an easy flow from the furious (analogue) drumfill of the title track to the eerie looped call, fuzzy synths and brilliantly manic patchwork of drums on "Astrology Days" (which itself is like two songs in one, since it moves into something along the lines of The Oranges Band's instrumental "The Trees on My Street"). The only noticeable interruption comes with the fifty-second interlude "A Day at the Beach," with its shaken bells and wheezing accompaniment. You can chalk most of the disc's dreamlike forward movement up to a sublime balance between both electronic and natural instrumentation and melody and rhythm - of which "Fall Bicycle" is the embodiment - as well as an aversion to the usual post-rock self-indulgence that borders on ruthless brevity. Not to mention to great job at sequencing. Existing fans of Tortoise, Sigur Ros, The Album Leaf (Jimmy LaValle actually performs on Love Your Abuser), and to a lesser extent Godspeed You! Black Emperor will want to clear a space on their shelves for Love Your Abuser, but most importantly perhaps, so will others who normally have little to do with ambient instrumental music. Lymbyc Systym's debut ought to resonate with something in all of us - maybe because they target that very part of our anatomy. - Copper Press |
1XLP/Out Of Print