Crumbs
Pieces and Portions, Vol. 1
7 Track, EP (2009, Independent)
Related: Brain Children, Crumbs, Max Kohane.
Crumbs is the solo guise of one Max Kohane, perhaps best known to people for his octopus-limbed drumming as one third of Melbourne extremists Agents of Abhorrence. Pieces and Portions, Vol. 1, however, has nothing whatsoever to do with spasmodic grindcore. Rather, Kohane treads a path closer to that of electro explorers Qua and Mountains in the Sky, creating vibrant and melodic hip-hop/electronica out of analogue synths and sampled instrumentation.
As the title seems to imply, many of the tracks on Pieces and Portions, Vol. 1 feel as though they're in a state of semi-completion. They seem to be ideas in progress, still awaiting the divine spark that will turn them from sketches into songs. For example, the awesomely titled ‘Back, Back + Low Punch’ fails to achieve liftoff despite its catchy melody. There just seems to be something missing, perhaps the input of an MC like Catcall, with whom Crumbs has worked in the past? This makes the disc as a whole feel somewhat disjointed, as one vignette gives way to another almost at random; there's no real flow to what's on show here, just a quickly passing parade of not-quite-finished tracks.
Which isn't to say that these pieces (and portions) are all bereft of merit. There are some great retro synth sounds on opener ‘Crumb Drum Drum’, while ‘Fruity Village’ is the closest any of these tracks gets to an actual song. But while Crumbs definitely displays talent as a producer here, Pieces and Portions ultimately comes across more like a showreel than a cohesive record.
(The EP can be downloaded here for free)
by Adam D Mills
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I've been diggin on this one...
i haven't really listened to this, but have heard 'happy smiling otter paw' and thought it was really good. maybe this style/approach to music is not for everyone, but i love rza's instrumental album, and it's probably more minimal than this stuff
enjoying. nice one max.
thanks Max. Sounds great.
Thanks! Also,
CRUMBS guest mix and interview on RRR's against the arctic next tuesday night + and CRUMBS CD giveaways at RENDER (new beat night in melbourne) thursday 25th @ bar open.
loving those track names, max...
http://againstarctic.wordpress.com
live mix and interview. declan is awesome.
volume 2 up for download now: http://crumbmusic.bandcamp.com