Somewhere is Lee Norris' closet, a pair of dancing shoes is collecting a shitload of dust. Norris is probably out for a stroll, right around 7:30 in the PM, breathing deeply and keeping the pace relaxed. He's stocking up on pillows and Swedish furniture, and sleeping in late. Taking it easy.
And rightfully so. Despite scores of brilliant records, from his 12" releases on Clear to seminal albums like Spook Tinsel Shoal and the flawless diamond that is the Neo Ouija LP, Norris has remained just this side of the spotlight, IDM's best kept secret or beautiful albino in guarded seclusion. In that time he's harvested a crop of like-minded knob-twiddlers for his Neo Ouija label roster, and kept his sound evolving. Although he thinks of some of that early Metamatics catalog as dated (Lee, believe me, it ain't so), a surprising number of elements from previous Norris records still crop up on 2002's From Death to Passwords Where You're A Paper Aeroplane, a subdued album that finds the heavy dance DNA of Dope for the Robot and Neo Ouija turned down to a whisper.
The beats are still there, mind you: Norris pretty much defines the mid-to-late 90s IDM sound, layering skittering loops over skittering loops till the whole thing crackles like the most beautiful sandpaper, and From Death To Passwords cuts like "Machine Wool" and "Colmic Zeus" are rife with them. "Remip Ear" even sneaks a little booty bounce into the bass track, but the sunlit atmosphere that rolls over top of it eskews the funk. What you'll find on the new album is that the Metamatics sound has expanded to include more forays into ambient territory, a rich sense of ghost melody that permeated the best tracks on Neo Ouija (and if you're asking me, those would be "So Many Ways" and the title track in particular), and is fleshed out even more so on Passwords. "Giant Sunflowers Swaying In The Breeze" has a thick synth hook, with beat textures inspired by his "Man-Q-Neons" single on Dot Recordings, best described as house music filtered through the European countryside, preferably populated by healthy, blissed-out sheep. The IDM spirit is in full force on "Byeway (Clan)", but it's the chiming synth and extended musix box harmonies that make the track work, not the clicks and cuts snipping away behind them.
"A New End", in every way, is the culmination of this new curve in the Metamatics sinewave. Opening with translucent ambient washes and a spiraling laptop chirp, the song ebbs and crests in an easy rhythm, evoking a calm and meditative void at once melancholy and crystalline, the quiet doldrums of a day spent inside; computer clicks try to put the movements into context, but it's those first four minutes of digital mist that move you. It swipes the blueprint for lovely from "How I Missed You" and takes it on a long sea cruise. It's one of the most indelible soundscapes Norris has ever recorded, and solid evidence of musical growth.
Norris' Metamatics material has always had heart, but on From Death To Passwords, the beats stay quiet long enough for you to hear it with more than your ears. The rhythm tracks are still a thing of beauty, but they've graciously lowered their profile for a spell, and the countryside that lies beyond is worth a thousand "Organic Healthy Robot"s-- maybe more. Neo Ouija is still the pinnacle, but you can see this record from the summit. In less purple words: this isn't his best, but it's the next best thing.
