| One thing is very clear: Pedro loves staccato strings and metallic percussion instruments, and the only thing he loves more, is to cut those sounds up into structures only a truly mad scientist could dream of. Throughout his self-titled full-length, Pedro mixes delicate piano, xylophone, chimes and harp, with lush orchestral strings, deep bass lines, organ, and a variety cut-up, frenetic beats and sounds. The result (which is completely instrumental) falls somewhere between downtempo, glitch, hip-hop and ambient. This album was originally released in Europe on Manchester's Melodic Records and recorded from 2000 through 2002. "Fear & Resilience" embodies the mix of sonic elements and unexpected structures of which Pedro has made himself a master conductor. It opens with slow, distorted horn that's quickly met by nice, mellow breakbeats, and a deep bed of cut-up and whole string instrumentation. There are so many layers of sounds and melodies happening that it's impossible to take them all in with a single pass. Along the way the song breaks down into abstract, orchestral horn and percussive solos, but always regains its lush breakbeatism. "Dead Grass" is a nice ambient, xylophone-led number, with reversed string samples and plodding piano keys adding to the hazy, dreamlike atmosphere. It picks up with some nice idm styled percussion and thick string chords about halfway through, but retains its backwards-forwards feel. "These Pixels Weave a Person" employs Asian strings and synthesized pipe organ under sparese, glitchy percussion and cut-up orchestral strings. As seems typical with Pedro's work, the structure of the song is entirely unpredictible, verging on chaotic. The chaotic plot thickens with introduction of cut-up, squealy, avant-garde jazz horns. "The Water Ran This Way Back And Forth" is an interesting multi-melodic, cut-up guitar piece, lacking percussion, with an almost old-rennaissance feel. "123" brings on a barrage of what I can only imagine is an avant-garde jazz drum solo. The percussion is joined by cut-up horns and a frenetic, broken, beat and wild bass line that thinly glued together by a persistent string backdrop...until the halfway through when it all changes into coherent beats, floating harp strings, and a tight bass line...but the moment doesn't last as it slips back into chaos. "All Things Rendered" keeps a faster tempo and an almost minimal techno style, but steers well clear of any such accessibility as to really be called house or minimal. The CD edition of this album comes with a second disc, and that's Pedro's "Fear & Resilience EP". It contains mixes of the song by Prefuse 73, Cherrystones, Danger Mouse, Home Skillet, Four Tet and Pedro himself. If you're into Prefuse 73's style you're going to dig this remix treatment. It maintains the feel of the original but drops a far heavier percussive groove. Cherrystones have replaced nearly everything about "Fear & Resilience" and turned it into a dusty, Bond-esque, instrumental hip-hop joint. Danger Mouse likewise mix the track into something entirely new, emphasizing the cuts Asian strings and abstracted vocal sample while giving it a bouncing, mellow hip-hop beat. Home Skillet's mix sees Pedro's chaos and raises it up a few chips. Four Tet deliver a slow-building, long-playing, glitchy, ambient, avant-garde jazz mix whose jazz drum shuffle and crazy horn work unfold over an uncommon 21 minutes. In closing, another thing is also very clear about Pedro: His work is not for the faint of ear. You'll need a healthy appetite for the experimental when it comes to taking in his sound, which ranges from unashamedly beautiful to unreservedly mad. - Properly Chilled |
![MH-240 Pedro - Pedro [2006 Edition]](/album_art_front/MH240_F.jpg)
1XLP/Out Of Print