Excerpt: “Copious layers of soothing electronic elements blip, bloop, and glitch their way to an EP of mellow chilled out music…an almost perfect example of how to create an intelligent EP showcasing what can be done with a minimalist approach to the electronica genre.”
Excerpt: “The four tracks on the EP are a dense swirl of multi-textured electronic soundscapes that develop tunefully with mellow and warm melodies, crisp rhythm blips and playful clicks and pops. The duo mix and manipulate sounds into a soothing atmosphere of instrumental electronic songs… The impressionistic compositions don’t stray too far into the nebulous atmosphere but stay grounded with gently rolling drums, dynamic rhythms, periodic waves of buoyant keyboards and bright, celestial guitar leads.”
“It’s difficult to listen to Down Review’s debut instrumental EP, From Here, For Anyone, without being reminded of early Broken Social Scene. It’s not as if these guys are offshoots from the Toronto indie collective or anything. Rather, the EP manages to mesmerize and mesh trippy guitar loops with defiant electronic beats in an immensely contagious manner. Broken Social Scene mastered this art, and don’t be surprised if Down Review soon attain as much hype. Four tracks and 23 minutes in length, From here, For Anyone rattles as much as it hums. It prods the subconscious with an array of sounds at once. For those who find Four Tet’s stuff a little tough on the melodies, you should know Down Review manages to escape that fate with an EP rich with color and promise.”
Excerpt: “The EP’s material can be characterized as wide-screen, richly-textured electro-acoustic sound design underlaid by laid-back rhythms inflected with subtle shadings of funk and hip-hop. Commendably, Down Review opts for understated elegance, with the duo recognizing that the song’s twilight ambiance is all the more effective when delivered with restraint.One expects that it’s only a matter of time before a full album’s worth of Down Review material sees the light of day.”
