Zipper Spy

Maria Moran, aka Zipper Spy for this project, approaches noise with a different touch. Her music (yes, music -- these are not endless walls of concrète noise but at times delicate sonic constructions) also draws on sampling, some perverted forms of techno (beat is at the center of the project), and found sounds. She mixes various sound sources to create strange polluted dance tunes. The typical recipe -- although not always followed -- includes one or more layers of analog or digital noise for texture, a beat pattern (either derived from another sampled beat, glitch, or noise), and miscellaneous loops as means of a repetitive melody. Her palette is very rich, which means that even though 23 tracks, for a total of 70 minutes of music, make for a heavy load, the listener doesn't come out of Icki Beats exhausted. The album culminates with "Start (A Remix)," the longest piece of the set at ten minutes and also the most developed. Built with the sounds of a car engine starting and jacket zippers, it verges on electro-acoustics. "Hinged Up" provides another highlight, its limping rhythm track and abrupt changes giving it a feel of Stock, Hausen & Walkman gone noise -- something different, really. This was the noise label Ground Fault's first release. ~ François Couture, All Music Guide