Slow Wave Sleep - Beneath The Stitches

Though dating back to 2011 and not being all too recent, a submission for a review is a submission for a review no matter what. Slow Wave Sleep is a two man project from Evan Friedel (Vocals, Bass Guitar, Synthesizers, Piano, Mixing, Production and Programming) as well as Joshua Baca (Guitar, Synthesizers, Piano, Sound Manipulation and Programming). The relationship is quite odd, as they met through Baca's sister, and are also a far distance away from one another, the ability to transmit music files to and from one another leads to a unique EP.

The first song on the album is an album version of Stitched Obscurity. While it's sad to say that this is the only track on the album that isn't a remix, it does come off very nicely. Drum machines cross through the song with a touched upon voice crawling into the beat. The vocals are really nothing I haven't heard before, but it's also nothing to really get all too upset over; they are still decent. The beat of the song does well with the synthesizers, mainly in the form of a background synth that never ceases, but is alright.

And then we're given six remixes from different projects. The one mix is by founder member Evan Friedel himself; I didn't much understand why he decided to mix his own song, but to each his own. The main difference between this song and the original is that the drums take a major step down in comparison, and electronics sort of take presence over the drums. But, it wasn't anything great. 'Twas good, but nothing more or less.

The :10: Remix did the same, substituting more electronics for the drums, and it worked well. After about a minute of softness, we get a heavier song. But, still, I couldn't find anything to rave over.

The Semi Source Remix began off fair, with a sort of ambient sound to it before diving into a sort of IDM sound. I really enjoyed the IDM influences within the song, but I felt as if they didn';t go so well with the noise presented within the song.

Artcore Machine submitted a weird mix of the song. The vocals were really fucked with, making them repeat a lot and also adding a lot of effects to them. That alone ruined the song to me.

By the time I hit the orphaned_HOLOGRAMS Remix, I was bored of the album. It wasn't doing much for me at all by this point, and this song continued the trend. Some IDM influences, but the main body of the song really just threw me off and I didn't enjoy it all too much. And the MRp Remix, while taking things to a calmer note and playing with a main synth sound overlapped by some drums, it was repetitive.

And, well, I don't like saying this much, but I couldn't get too into this EP. Having the same song mixed six times over got me bored pretty easily. I mean, maybe if I found more to enjoy out of the remixes, I may have found some pleasure within this listening experience. But, that was not the case. Perhaps the duo will surprise me with a full length album that I might enjoy later on in the future. May 02 2014