Clock Opera

The first release from one man music box Guy Connelly is a glorious glitching affair of whirrs, plucks and shuffling spasmodic rhythms. Connelly has called his sound Chop Pop, and in the manner of pioneering electro-acoustic eccentrics such as Herbert and Capitol K, weaves a tapestry of found sounds into representations of the familiara harp sound made by the layering of several detuned guitars, drums built brick by brick from the smashing of cutlery on kitchen tops and so on. This search to create recognisable instruments from unrecognisable sources gives A Piece of String a curious combination of the strange and the known, like the contents of an enchanted house rising up Fantasia style to dance out an indie pop melody. Whilst the rhythms Connelly uses as a backdrop are somewhere between the wilder afrocentric beats of UK Funky and the glistening metal scuttles of Aphex Twin, the vocals are traditional bedroom indie plaintive, belying the complexity of the track they centre, and allowing Clock Opera a wider audience than he might otherwise appeal to. An interesting first release, and certainly worth investigating.

Ian Mcquaid

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