Formless
Artist:Shane Newville
Label: Syntax Records
Length: 17 Tracks / 70:25
 
First, a little background, Shane Newville is an in-house producer for Syntax Records who has his fingerprints all over some of their more recent releases. He’s a graduate of the SAE Institute, where he went on the Mackie scholarship (which is apparently very exclusive). This is his first official self-representative effort, though apparently he has been sending demos into Syntax for years now.
 
After spending some quality time with this, there are a few feelings I can’t shake. The first is that when it’s on, I waver between feeling like I’m in some kind of trippy action movie, or feeling like I should be working harder on my homework. _Formless_ is electronica of various sorts ­ it goes from Drum’n’bass to Ambient/Minimalist to House and back. So I must credit it for its diversity. Shane cites The Chemical Brothers and Prodigy as past inspirations, though after listening through the record I suspect Aphex Twin is in there somewhere too. Fans of those artists or of electronic music in general are in for a treat ­ there’s a lot here to like. Of the 17 tracks only a few are lackluster, and the songs that rise above the rest are truly incredible.
 
Shane’s experience as a mixer and producer is what stands out the most to me about this record. Taking his experience behind the boards to his own project, Formless all but shimmers from the mixing and mastering expertise that’s been slathered all over it. If the listener sets their like or dislike of electronic music aside and throws some headphones on, it won’t take long to find a lot to enjoy. There are subtleties that a casual listen won’t pick up, and they number far more than the average well-produced record.
 
In the end, Formless is an interesting debut that shows a lot of potential. It won’t surprise me in the least to hear some of these songs in movies and videogames before long, and the production levels are top notch. My only really tangible complaint is that in the end the record feels too long, with some ambient tracks that feel drawn out (“Beautiful & Perfect”), and a few more upbeat cuts that end up being little more than annoying due to poor choice in an oft-repeated sample (“Apartment Break 3000”).
 
Standout Tracks: Unseen Supernatural War, Kickflip, Samurai Showdown, Experiment X.
 
Jerry Bolton
12/18/07