- The title Biscuit Symphony might suggest some Matthew Herbert-style conceptual piece, possibly involving Jurek Przezdziecki sampling breaking wafers and slurping tea to make a statement about the weighty issues of our age. (Bourbon or custard creams? Are Jaffa Cakes really biscuits?) Questions that probably assume enormous significance in the mind of someone who has spent a long time sequestered in their Polish studio.
But the truth is a little more straightforward. After years producing deep techno 12-inches for labels like Whirlpoolsex Music and Cocoon, Przezdziecki has finally got around to producing his first solo album. Oh. And that—according to the man himself—the title doesn't actually mean anything at all.
Przezdziecki claims that his track titles come to him either through free association or—in the case of "Lender Pitfully" and "Relationship Sunblock"—in the subject lines of spam emails clogging up his inbox (presumably "Genuine Pills Extra Inches Manhood Guaranteed" didn't make the cut). But Biscuit Symphony illustrates the playful nature of an album which—despite seeming to be a collection of house and techno on its surface—is constantly toying with you on further listens. The "symphony" part of the equation isn't as wide of the mark as you might think either. OK, we're not exactly dealing with Mahler here, but Przezdziecki's background in contemporary classical is apparent in the structure of his compositions. The melodic scales on "My Left Side Is Yours" and "Sic Et Non" are deployed like recurring classical motifs, beats and squelches stand in for plucked strings on "Slope Arabesca" and gooey synths and flutes make "The Fifth Piece of Me" an exercise in unabashed psychedelic gorgeousness that occasionally evokes prog-rockers Ozric Tentacles.
Biscuit Symphony is a remarkably busy album with synth lines constantly fading in and out, cascades of clicks falling in the background, slippery beats sometimes sinking into baths of electronic bubbles. But it rarely seems overly crowded, with everything being tightly wrapped into a tense centrifugal force on the title track, or taking the beat aloft on "Keys United." On occasion, Biscuit Symphony can feel like a particularly efficient factory with a million different machines whirring in unison towards one purpose. But the album is far removed from mass-produced conveyor belt dance music: It's a batch of lovingly baked homemade cookies rather than a dull packet of Rich Tea.
Tracklist 01. Bisquit Symphony
02. Lender Pitfully
03. Keys United
04. Ech Och Time
05. Slope Arabesca
06. Relationship Sunblock
07. Sic Et Non
08. The Fifth Piece Of Me
09. Vera Vitalia
10. My Left Side Is Yours