When he's not an active organizing member of Vancouver's arts scene, Cameron Reed creates electronic soundscapes he calls "surf-step" under the moniker Babe Rainbow. The first half of that tag may seem misleading-- unless they're planning to hang 10 on Shutter Island, it's difficult to imagine surfing to Reed's more ominous tones. But considering Vancouver's cool summers and propensity for rain, Reed's debut EP for Warp, Shaved, could be easily pegged with a beach-bummed outlook.
As for the "step": despite the fact that dubstep's rapid splintering makes its classification tricky, distinct elements of that sound are disparately placed throughout Shaved. There are snapping backbeats, irregular rhythms, amorphous bass lines-- enough reference points to prove Reed's done his homework. But although Shaved sometimes flirts with pastiche, its most promising moments occur when Reed steps out of the comfort zone of genres-- both self-invented and preexistent-- and creates overcast, suffocating sonic landscapes.
The material collected here aren’t as much songs as they are dark mood pieces. Opening track "Popcommon" establishes the portentous mood-- its lone melodic line is a burnt-out, static charge that sounds like a jet engine powering down. Here and elsewhere Reed displays a talent for utilizing negative space, creating a sense of urban paranoia and isolation that runs throughout Shaved. "Care" recalls the Knife at their creepiest and most sparse, with a wizened female voice emerging from the horror-stringed ether, while the album-closing title track utilizes warped bass and muffled tones to create a doomsday atmosphere. If those two tracks are gearing up for the end of the world, then the ironically titled Shaved highlight "Celebrate" is pure atomic fallout, complete with static sheets and foghorns sounding a warning that no one will hear.
*Shaved'*s weaker moments discard haunting atmospherics for genre formalism, such as the second-rate IDM of "Tummy Sticks" and the record's most uninspired, straightforwardly dubstep moment, "Screwby". While the track begins promisingly, with a pair of skittering rhythms that juxtapose nicely, one-drop keyboard stabs and wobbly bass stick out like a fist full of sore thumbs. Ultimately, Shaved is successful when Reed is embracing his downbeat tendencies. This could mean that one is unlikely to hear the sounds of Babe Rainbow filling clubs or house parties anytime soon, but to paraphrase Zomby: fuck dancing, let's mope.
