Music Review: Manorexia - Dinoflagellate Blooms - Page 2

For this listener, the physical and spiritual center of Dinoflagellate Blooms is "A Plastic Island In The Pacific." Like those of us who do not have our heads in the sand, it is obvious that Thirlwell is very disturbed by the recent discovery of a virtual island of plastic grocery bags and the like steadily growing in the Pacific Ocean. I just read about an extremely disturbing fact that one in ten fish caught in the Pacific have plastic debris in their stomach. How can that possibly be good? Manorexia perform a moving lament to this ominous development with the 7:26 composition.

The theme of mankind moving towards a slow, and inevitable suicide seems to continue through the remainder of the album. It may be the whole point for all I know, but with "Plastic Island's" title, it is spelled out specifically. One of the greatest things about instrumental music is that nothing is fixed; the listener brings whatever they want to the experience, nothing more or less. Continuing on from "A Plastic Island In The Pacific" is "Hydrofrack," which begins with what sounds like an electronic reproduction of a whale song.

"The Perfect Patsy" follows and may or may not signal a return to more mundane concerns. It is a compelling piece, in any event. The abbreviated (0:23) "Hoarse Platitudes" works as an introduction to "Vika," another intriguing track whose ambience suggests a song recorded underwater. "Kinaesthesia" is the longest of the second half of the disc at 8:47. This is a tour de force, with what could be construed as the sound of an emergency signal leading things off before a wave of powerful yet subdued sonics take over. Finally we come to "Struck" in which Thirlwell's vision seems to leave us at a crossroads between Armageddon, and possible peace with our environment.

Article Author: Greg Barbrick

Greg Barbrick is a Seattle native who was first published in 1988, in his hometown music magazine, The Rocket. Since then his work has appeared in print and online for numerous sources. He Googles himself so often that his mother told him it would make him go blind.
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