Alternative Press (USA)
Founded in 1997, Toronto's Suction Records seems to be getting better with every release.
Without sounding (referential), Suction maintains a level of compositional innocence currently
only Bola has been able to achieve (excluding the recent "Mauver" EP on Skam). Earlier this
year, Solvent's Jason Amm wowed with the moody "Solvently One Listens", and now compatriot
Gregory De Rocher (Lowfish) takes a tighter electro line on "Eliminator". De Rocher admits a
love for '80s new wave and gear pioneers OMD and New Order that manifests itself on nearly
every track, sometimes with disturbing accuracy. The tension of unrelenting 16th notes on
"Walking With Scissors" at first recalls the opening of "Chariots Of Fire", but then descends
into something more primordial as it cavorts through up to five octaves of sound. The
shimmering tones that compose "FatBlex"'s simple melody wrap around your mind like valley-talk;
next thing you know, you're fondling a Rubik's Cube in the garage. What a trip.
Heath K.Hignight
De:Bug (Germany)
Suction Platten sind gute Platten, das weiss mittlerweile jedes Kind, denn immer wenn
die beiden kanadischen Roboter und Labelbosse Solvent und Lowfish ihre Schaltkreise auf
Musik stellen treffen sich Roland - und Atarihologramme am Himmel zum Tai Chi im
Sonnenaufgang. Will sagen: hier passiert grosses, von der ersten bis zur letzten Sekunde.
Mr. Lowfish ist offenbar gerade vom Lehrgang 'Wie schreibe ich Top10 Hits am laufenden
Meter' zurückgekehrt und rockt richtig los. Sein bester Freund ist dabei die gute alte
808, die tapfer und stolz meine Lieblingsdrumsounds aus den Einzelausgängen drückt, mal
plöckrig, mal triolisch zappelnd, dann wieder sachte um die Ecke schauend, immer auf der
Suche nach einer Melodie oder einem dieser gorssartigen 80er Oktavbässe, nach Freunden
eben mit denen man mal eine Runde Achterbahn fahren könnte. Lowfish hat natürlich
haufenweise davon, und so klingt 'Eliminator' als ob es eine Greates Hits Compilation
eines Electropop Helden wäre. Was Lowfish natürlich ist, nur wissen das noch nicht viele
Leute. Hätte Vince Clarke diese Platte 1982 aufgenommen, hätte er davon mehr Kopien
verkauft als von 'Onlys You'. Da bin ich mir sicher. Aber vergessen wir die arroganten
Engländer und widmen uns lieber wieder den kanadischen Sympathieträgern. Was diesen
ganzen hippen 80er ElectroRetro Idioten, die ja Platten ohne Ende verkaufen, vielleicht
auf einem Track alle 25 Maxis mal gelingt, schnipst Lowfish aus dem kleinen Finger.
Hits, mit wahrer Liebe für die frühen 80er gemacht, die aber so aktuell klingen, dass man
plötzlich wieder glaubt, der C64 würde erst nächstes Jahr auf den Markt kommen. Pop
stirbt nie. 5/5
Thaddi Herrmann
Groove #65 (Germany)
Die Leierkastenfrage: Au? ...Autsch? ...Autechre? Ja, schon manchmal entfernt
irgendwie wieder, bzw. nein, natürlich nicht. Weil: Die peitschenden Beathäckselungen
oder Electro-typischen Soundspraydosen, die hier poppig freestylen, haben für den
Au-Vergleich zu viel von Electro - im engeren Sinn. Aber gleichzeitig zu wenig Electro
für tatsächlichen "Electro im engeren Sinn". Eben weil hier Definitionsgrenzen
gen Komplexität aufgelöst wurden. Ein doofer Begriff wie "Neo-Electro"
läge nahe, nur: wer will schon zum Trillionsten Mal Ungetüme à la
"NuJazz", "Post-2Step" oder "Neu-Jungle" hören müssen. Oder immer schneller als die
Trendhöchstgeschwindigkeit erlaubt Hülsen herbeireden, die von einer
zurückbleibenden Inhaltspatrone, die eigentlich losgeschickt werden sollte, ins
Bedeutungslose schießen. Aber egal, ob nun Electro-Trends und -Revivals
vergangene Jahre geflutet haben, ob sie irgendwie genannt wurden oder nicht:
"Neo-Electro" wäre konnotativ nicht mehr weit von "Neon-Röhre" entfernt, oder? Einem
Licht, das hier ganz einfach nicht passt. Denn bei Lowfish blendet nichts
gleißend, eher schimmert alles so metallisch aus Mikroverwerfungen.
"Electrometallic"!? Schöne Klang- und Track-Ziselierungen zumindest.
Losing Today (Italy)
Part two for the Canadian Gregory De Rocher, a.k.a. Lowfish, deeply impassioned
of electronica in all its different forms and derivations. A trace of this
unconditional love peeks through in the naturalness of Eliminator's pieces:
closely-knit sweet rhythms, carefree melodies which never descend into the
banal. Even in the slightly harsher pieces, a charming rhythm puts everything
back as it should be. There isn't even the possibility of any comparison as
there are no clear references, but instead a multitude of well-mixed
derivations. Great sense of rhythm and playfulness.
Salvo Pinzone
Motion (UK)
Suction Records' productions are all labelled "Robot Music From Canada", and at first
glance, they could be easily pigeonholed as some kind of long lost Eno installation,
"Music For Robots". However, whether you're a fan of their 80's airbrushed robot-babe
sheen or not - and I am - there's some fine music here. Not least Solvent's fantastic
"Solvently One Listens", and now this, "Eliminator", the second full-length from
Lowfish. It's not just 80's fetishism, early synthesizer bands like Roedelius, Cluster,
Tangerine Dream, and Mother Mallard are all within earshot, as indeed is some heavy-duty
electro, one of the more dominant influences here.
It starts Warp-like, with the gloomy plangent chords of early work (Autechre, Plaid,
Aphex) on that label, though with a now-familiar plastic superstructure based around
Depeche Mode, Human League, Heaven 17, OMD, New Order, et al. This is due to
De Rocher's particular taste in melodies and textures of course, but also his
carefully assembled synth collection: his Jupiter-6, 808, System 100, Lead 2,
Odyssey and "piles of dodgy effects", as he puts it. "Finishing the Stereotypes" is
particularly smart, cross-fading and reversing brushed drum samples, before
developing into intricate kinetic patterns, expressed in pristine hyperreal
drum sound. The 808 turns out the crispest of beats, doesn't it? And it's put
through its paces all over the record, as De Rocher works it over across
numerous seductively polyrhythmic patterns. The synthpop influence imbues the
record with several refreshingly bright major-key melodies, "Basildon (Lowfish
remix)" is perky beyond belief.
It somehow manages to transcend its influences though, despite being so
carefully and self-consciously placed. It now sounds like a Suction record
more than anything. So, Blame Canada. For more fine fine robot music.
Dan Hill
Toronto Star (Canada)
Toronto's underappreciated, analog-inclined Suction Records delivers another icy-cool program
of lo-fi "robot music from Canada," this time courtesy of label co-founder Gregory De Rocher's
alter ego, Lowfish. Eschewing electronic music's rampant gear fetish to work with minimal
equipment - an 808 drum machine, some old synths and "a pile of rotten FX units" - De Rocher
turns his retro-futurist gaze to a species of warped electro-primitivism on Eliminator.
Soft-focus melodic tones and snatches of abstract noise tumble over cheap, tersely funky
Bambaata beats on stuttering android body-movers like "Glued Smile" and "fatBlex," while the
creepily thrumming "Im/Comfort" and "Arch Melvin" builds to disorienting undulations that would
be danceable if they weren't so thoroughly alien.
There's an interesting collision of similar-yet-different sensibilities, too, when De Rocher
squares off against Suction's other half, Jason "Solvent" Amm, on a pair of remixes. As Amm lends his streamlined sense of
melody to a remix of Lowfish's stop-motion electro workout "Glass and Spiders," De Rocher in
turn chops Solvent's loping "Basildon" into cascading staccato fragments. Out there, but also
playful and tune-friendly enough for those who don't wear black turtlenecks and collect
Microstoria records. Observe http://www.suctionrecords.com for more cool stuff.
Ben Rayner
Vital (UK)
Lowfish returns to world of robotics: music produced by machines with the love
of humans. "Eliminator" takes the form of a classic LP: 10 tracks over 46
minutes, pop at their best. Lowfish is a kaleidoscope of possible electronic
music: from 70s synth to 90s techno underground, Gregory De Rocher takes the
best of all of them and writes simple yet effective tunes. The sampler has
been sold, and he now uses 8 tracks on his computer to hook up his basic
analogue gear: an 808, old effects, the good ol' Korg. Although Lowfish is not
yet there, he's like an instrumental version of Depeche Mode, with those
hammering away rhythms and simple, almost childish keyboard lines. When
listening I keep on wondering what would happen if Lowfish started using
vocals, will the instant hit be born right away? And is it really something to
look forward to? Maybe it could, as it will drag Lowfish into something new,
but it would mean a break away from the raw underground sound, while it gets
it's perfection now.
FDW
Wax (UK)
Lowfish is the musical guise of Gregory De Rocher who runs Toronto's Suction
imprint alongside Jason Amm (Solvent). The label's been around since 1997,
but is yet to receive the attention that it most definitely deserves. This
isn't the strongest release to date (check Solvent's 'Solvently One Listens'
for the height of electronic ecstasy) but still stands out from the pack,
coupling early Warp / Rephlex sounds with the 80's electro-pop of OMD / New
Order. OK, so the formula doesn't look great on paper, but Lowfish manages
to bring a fresh and relevant perspective to the whole affair. Crystal clear
synths collide with gritty beats and the contrast of rough and smooth works
effectively. The poor guy's obviously 808 crazy though, and if you're not a
fan of the original electro sound then steer clear. 8/10
XLR8R (USA)
Electro freak and Suction lord Gregory De Rocher titles his second full-length as Lowfish
"Eliminator", but don't expect any ZZ Top covers. Instead, Lowfish's music is deceptively
simple, enormously catchy modern electro, eschewing currently fashionable digital trickery for
good old analog skills. Wonderfully dinky melody lines intersect and swirl over De Rocher's
careful low-end work. "Eliminator" features extensive 808 abuse, and the deliberately limited
palette of sounds go a long way toward creating a unified whole. Still, "Arch Melvin" is
clearly the centrepiece of "Eliminator": after an epic build and melody, the extensive,
clanking breakdown teases you into thinking that the interlocking melody will return, and it
never does. "Eliminator" is pleasure deferred and pleasure transformed to great effect.
Rob Geary
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