Following well-received cassettes and vinyl EPs for Vancouver-based lo-fi house label 1080p and New York's Bank Records,
Via App (Queens-based producer
Dylan Scheer) joined the roster of Break World Records with her expansive full-length Sixth Stitch. Using analog hardware,
Scheer constructs strange, sporadic rhythms filled with mutated samples and smeared, off-color melodies. While often featuring up-front dance beats that appear to be DJ-friendly on the surface, her tracks are wildly unpredictable and never conform to any traditional structure. Sixth Stitch is her most experimental release yet, alternating between longer techno tracks and shorter pieces that could've come from an early-'80s industrial cassette, or even from the laboratory of an earlier electro-acoustic composer. Opener "Far She" takes a long time to settle on a thumping beat, and when it does, the waves of arpeggiating synths jump around and slow down before snapping back into their original speed. "Get in Line" is supremely obtuse, starting out with low-slung beats and snakelike rattles, along with some nauseous synth textures. Halfway through, a brighter melody saunters in, and it seems to crossfade into a different track entirely. "Con Artist" is a definite highlight, starting out with harsh, trashcan-like drums before developing a few interlocking beat patterns, including an infectious distorted breakbeat. With the album's shorter, less rhythmic tracks,
Scheer morphs sounds from softer, more innocent states into unnerving, sometimes piercing tones. And yet as dark and alien as some of the tracks may seem, there are upbeat, bubbly moments like the hypnotic closer, "Airborne Shuffle." With Sixth Stitch,
Scheer continues to demonstrate why she is one of underground techno's most adventurous producers. ~ Paul Simpson