Originally written by Mike Diver · 10 October 2005
Bovaflux
Where There Was Nothing
Label: Highpoint Lowlife Records Release Date: 10/10/2005
That Eddie Symons a.k.a. Bovaflux spends his nine-to-five bolt upright in front of a monitor crafting video games is no surprise whatsoever: a single listen to his first attempt at a full-length - which follows a mini-album and limited, self-issued efforts - reveals the same incidental ambiance that characterises so many hi-tech interactive environments these days.
Don't assume that the above means there's little of worth here, far from it: Symons' glitch-addled soundscapes are as many parts Four Tet as they are the latest PS2 bestseller. Static and fuzz shifts and adopts new forms while, dancing atop it, scattershot scratches and microbeats craft crisscross patterns. Little really stands out when compared to the more maverick exponents of this musical approach, admittedly, but most of these eleven tracks pass the listener by in a quite delightful fashion.
Never hurried and rarely less than serene, Where There Was Nothing is a fine debut that's only crime is to be too pretty and not encompass enough diversity across its otherwise recommended entirety.
• 5 Mike Diver's Score