PAS Musique: Abandoned Bird Egg

Convenient though it may be, the systematic compartmentalizing of music hits a virtual wall from time to time. Simply put, they don’t make records like Abandoned Bird Egg anymore, perhaps for a good reason, perhaps not. These 10 engrossing tracks recall an industrial that once was, such cacophonous and ominously bustling sounds from the likes of Throbbing Gristle, Zoviet France, or more modern wreckers of civilization like the Belgian duo Silk Saw. Even without reading the posted mission statement, it’s clear that PAS Musique — a Brooklyn-based collective — operates outside the presently accepted categories of electronic music, a condition in which its members seem quite comfortable.

Yet for something so willfully outsider, Abandoned Bird Egg often revels in loops and trance-inducing repetition, suggesting an ascetic adherence to structure as the foundation of an otherwise experimental playground. Even with wordless vocalizing and found sound sampling, “Modern Witchcraft” thumps along reliably to a submerged schaffel house beat. Squirmy synths straight out of the Chris Carter solo discography captivate (“Commercial Space”, “The Light Inside”), while some vaguely Eastern vibes lurk and linger (“Dark Canopy”). Perhaps most appealing are PAS Musique’s attempts to deconstruct, warp and mask guitars (“Esoteric Funk Classic”, “You Are Who You Are”) to craft these immersive, albeit somewhat derivative soundscapes.