Secret Mommy has a spastic sound that for me recalls Bogdan Raczynski, Kid606, although the conceptual nature of Very Rec and Hawaii 5.0 could be likened to San Francisco duo Matmos, who have recently focused on the sounds of plastic surgery and the Civil War.
The liner notes indicate that many of the tracks are crafted entirely from their field recordings, while a few of the songs are less clear about their sonic purity in adhering to the sound sources. In any case, Dixon is a masterful sound designer, conjuring exquisite bass drums, snares and lead synths from such fodder as tennis balls and zambonis, tapdancing and meditation.
The music itself skips along from glitchy, to skittish, funky to funny. Rock-solid beats give way to glitchy ambient sections of sonic rec-room detritus. Given the nature of the sound sources, there's always a human element present, but Dixon strengthens this aspect, whether it's with cut-up vocals from The Winks' Tyr Jamie on "Pool", The Primes' Jack Duckworth counting off his pushups, or the random laughs, grunts and exclamations of Dixon's friends and family hard at work and play on the sports field or rec room.
It's nice to think of the electronic music producer getting out into the world. One tends to think of them hidden way in darkened bedrooms, getting a tan from nothing but a laptop screen. Dixon clearly saw some sunlight on this project, playing basketball with friends, visiting a daycare, watching his dad's hockey games, and taking trips to the pool. It adds a homey charm and warmth to the album's concept and sound.
At what he's doing, Dixon is probably one the finest in the world; I caught a live show at the Or Gallery in 2004 and was humbled by his laptop sorcery. The conceptual angle makes the music that much more interesting – with repeat listens the ear is gradually rewarded with greater recognition of all the various sound sources. Very Rec is highly recommended for fans of superb sound-design wizardry, spastic electronic showmanship and err... sports and rec.
