Consequence Music

… aspires to the windswept upperslopes of ambient grandeur where Sigur Ros or Mogwai might pitch camp.

UNCUT

… an album that combines the electronics of BOC and the guitar crescendos of Mogwai with a touch of My Bloody Valentine's 'Loveless'.

4/5 DJ MAGAZINE

There is undoubtedly an impenetrably positive soul to MacKenzie's largely instrumental music, which can be described as beautifully structured, highly melodic and layered electronica that, while nodding to her great heroes - Brian Eno, Neu and Phillip Glass - always retains its own character.

A key element in MacKenzie's sound is the incorporation of soundscapes into his lush compositions. On the opener "Bladder Wrack" there are recordings of hectic Japanese streets, on "Calcutec" an inkjet printer sets the pace. It seems as if no source of noise is too small or too large to be incorporated into the complex and atmospheric sound structure. "The strangest place I have ever recorded? Hmmm, well there was this industrial mill in Ireland which had a series of belts that created a drone, the noise almost resembled a note."

Ewan, who comes from Falkirk, Scotland, started playing in bands at the age of 14. He currently plays drums in Glasgow experimental rock band Snowblood, who released their second album "Being and Becoming" in 2005 and have toured every year since 2002. The idea for Dextro came from MacKenzie's desire to create his own sounds and make music outside of a band context, and led to the unusual sounds that can be heard on the album: "My first set up was a very basic one, using an Atari ST and a sampler," he says. "I would try to record piano and drums as well as sounds from everyday life. There after I would play with the sounds as much as possible until I came across sounds that appealed to me. I gave the recordings to friends and they encouraged me to do more."

When he plays live, we never hear the same thing twice. This is how he manages to keep his music interesting and surprising.

The first Dextro release, the "Animism EP" was released in 2004 on Jumblefunk, followed in the same year by the 12" "Do you need help" on James Holden's Border Community label. After that, MacKenzie began working on "Consequence Music". He spent half a year in solitude recording the album: "Most of the album was created in a very quiet house in the gorgeous Scottish hills. Solitude played a big part in getting my mind focussed on the music, and over this six to seventh month period I didn't socialise with my friends except on rare occasions (which were always fantastic fun)."

Consequence Music was born from ideas that MacKenzie had been tinkering with for years. True to his credo ("music should move you and sometimes overwhelm you," he has created an album with great impact that will find fans far beyond the usual electronica audience.

“As I was making the album, I tried my best to enjoy the music as much as any listener would. I was sure that I wanted to do an album, and I am sure I will make another one when the time is right.”

…a narcoleptic dreamworld of lush, orchestrated ambient soundscapes. Highly Recommended.

ROCKSOUND