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Quiet Personal Electronics (QPE) Boolean Logic The Agriculture, AG012 That's the sound of the boom boom tap. An area broken into the mainstream by the sound explorations of Massive Attack, the presence of hip hop beats combined with the experimental sounds has been kept alive with groups like Tosca, Savath and Savalas and most recently Tad Mullinix (Dabyre). Quiet Personal Electronics (QPE) carries on the legacy with Booleen Logic, an album that uses the boom boom tap and spacey, eclectic elements of ambient to further prove chill out doesn't have to necessarily be audio prozac. Booleen Logic is the mental music release of NYC resident Kacey Wiggins. Joining the masses that have left the heavy hardware for the light breezy feel of program loaded laptops, Booleen Logic still has a definite human touch. The head bobbing sounds of 'Devil May Care' and 'Out' are balanced by the gentile, easy going 'Until' and 'Fulcrum'. The wonderfully titled, dark beats of 'More Gavin less MacLeod' could have easily been placed somewhere on Massive Attack's creepier Mezzanine. However, Wiggins marks independence by staying more focused on the path of combining beats with bleeps and blops rather than emotionally dripping vocals. Though the fusion that Wiggins is exploring isn't exactly new, his production is as smoothly designed as the titanium powerbook he uses to produce. Whether produced on laptop or hardware, this is the sound that has kept my attention for the last couple years. Wiggins does a notable job at bringing together the two electronically produced extremes of hip- hop and ambient together onto one common audio landscape.
Boolean Logic
Bizarre is not only a good word, but intently strange with rhythm is also a good way of putting it. "Boolean Logic" is not for the average Joe who needs a fix for grooving, it's for someone who is on mission for a new division. QPE breaks from the old mode of hip-hop and moves into a fusionary line of dark downtempo vybes. Their new concept is for the deep thinking soul who wants to reboot, rehash and refresh his brain from the "oh so normal" worldly influences. A superb blend of haunting piano and heavily filtered synth riffs layered around those low-fi buttery beats, it's a total mind cleanser. Tracks like "Devil May Care" and "Summer Mourn" are some of my favs, but remember this is more of a project than it is single tracks. The flow from one track to the next is about development and the decision to create rather than emulate. Most of the tracks interplay between the subconscious and the freethinking randomness from lighthearted thoughts. At times it's soft and cushy, but still leaves you with enough sticky to keep you coming back for more. If this is the beginning for QPE, then I'm anxious for more. This is definitely a needed shiny disc for your collection. (Radionic)
Boolean Logic
Boolean Logic is the full-length instrumental project of Manhattan-based Kacy Wiggins whose acronym stands for quiet personal electronics. Given the disc's pervasive hip-hop feel, it's hardly surprising that Wiggins cites Timbaland and Missy Elliot amongst his influences, yet he also cites the eclectic impact of Stevie Wonder, the Buzzcocks, My Bloody Valentine, Sonic Youth, and Kraftwerk on his music. The opening "Fulcrum" generally establishes the template for the longer tracks with its ominous chords, echo-laden, keening voices and loping, dub-like rhythm. The brief interludes "AND," "OR," and "NOT" are composed, respectively, of brooding mechanical waves, electronic noodling that wouldn't sound out of place on an Oval or Mouse On Mars recording, and clicking, hissing, pulverized tones. "Devil may care" is Boolean Logic's standout track. Here a lumbering hip-hop beat is accompanied by the irrepressible hook of a stuttering male voice, followed by a careening keyboard melody and bell-like accents. The closing "More Gavin Less Macleod" features a slow, rimshot-driven pattern accompanied by dark chords and string-like tones. A degree of repetition does set in eventually when the same hip hop-influenced rhythm pattern is used so often here, but the longer tracks generally sustain interest due to the diverse sound accents present within each. True to its dubby roots, the focus is more upon groove than melody which, depending upon your preference, can make Boolean Logic seem lacking in melodic distinctiveness. (Ron Schepper)