The Musicgoer: Eleazar Vs. John's Pits In The Sandblaster

ELEAZAR VS. JOHN
Pits in the Sandblaster
(Eleazar)
**** (out of 5)

The subgenre of electronic music known as “glitch” is kind of a contradiction in terms: it’s artificial music that tries to sound organic, full of dusty, “imperfect” textures which actually require hours of studio tinkering to produce. I love the sound, with all its ratchety clicks and squeaks and pops — hey, sometimes you need to give your woofers a break and let the tweeters take centre stage.

Pits in the Sandblaster is the debut disc from Edmonton glitchers Eleazar Vs. John (known to their friends as Adam Palmer and Greg Goa), and it’s a beauty. The noises may not be natural, but they always remind you of something from the real world — knuckles popping, or snow crunching under your boots. The disc is further humanized by Lane Arndt’s acoustic guitar, and the breathy, unpretentious vocals. Highlights include the groovy, ruminative “Of Age”; “Sport,” whose melody curves into a spike like a fishhook; and the soothing closer “Chamomile,” which is practically a folk song. Palmer and Goa call their music a blend of glitch, trip hop, and bluegrass; can we start calling the combination “gluegrass” or can someone out there think of a better name?