Colin Newman and Malka Spigel have devoted their Swim label to the homogenization of guitars and electronics, elements still regarded as non-miscible by rock and techno purists. Swim's open charter encourages simultaneous experimentation in both mediums. This unique "post-everything" attitude, which has already nurtured such genre-blurring outfits as Plastic Venus, Pablo's Eye, and Silo, finds a new champion in Symptoms' Klaus Ammitzboll.
Throughout SYMPTOMS, fizzy electronics, mordant basslines, and a wealth of brittle, syrupy, sharp, and crystalline instrumental textures come together like the measured ingredients in a batter. Ammitzboll constantly revises his recipe for varying confectionery effects. He tosses in chunky beats ("Versus," "Revo," "Burn"), folds in coarser and sweeter sounds ("Recurring Themes," "You," "All Out"), or omits elements to lighten the mix. The lovely "Coupling," "Tyst," and "What is Left" reduce Symptoms' basic recipe to its simplest form, weighing piano and guitar phrases in perfect counterpoint.