Electronica has long been touted as the music of our future, as it reflects an increasingly mechanized, depersonalized culture. The relatively recent sub-genre of "glitch" -- electronic music composed of the shortest of burps and squiggles of digitally processed sound -- plays like the gritty, abstract, even confrontational soundtrack to a techno-dystopia. Even the hyperkinetic rhythms and brooding strings of drum 'n' bass can seem listener-friendly in comparison. By contrast, Tennis' obviously sporty name, the album's jaunty title and the burbling warmth of Europe on Horseback adds a patrician sheen to a genre defined mainly by Autechre's chilly minimalism.
Glitch is usually classified under the rubric "IDM", or Intelligent Dance Music. As usual with such taxonomies, most musicians working in the field disassociate themselves from the label, although it's in fact rather complimentary, especially considering that you can't really dance to it -- a fact which seems, unaccountably, to be conflated with intelligence. Europe on Horseback is, as Peter Buck once described REM's music, "the acceptable end of the unacceptable stuff." While they're working with lengthy tracks, Pro-Tooled soundscapes, repetitive beats and virtually nonexistent melodies in a music that's concerned more with conceptual innovation than hummable choruses, Tennis craft songs that engage the listener on a visceral as well as intellectual level. Despite the short-attention-span-friendly nature of the individual sounds, most of which come as brief bursts across a wide spectrum of tones, there's a drawn-out quality to the songs that rewards careful listening. (And headphone listening: behind the most obvious tempos lurk an exploding universe of even shorter, quieter noises.)
This second collaboration between the London-based solo artists Ben Edwards (Benge) and Douglas Benford (si-{cut}.db) plays around with dub ("Port Helix", "Safelle"), drum 'n' bass ("Debonair Content"), Krautrock ("Self-Seal Mishap") and anything else that keeps the momentum churning hypnotically. "Weakness Together" overlays a scratchy vinyl sound that's both ghostly and organic, which isn't far from being a description of Europe on Horseback as a whole. The tracks don't change much from beginning to end, with repetition being, in this context, a virtue instead of a fault; they start out strong enough -- and the album as a whole is varied enough -- that each added nuance is significant. What's left out is just as compelling, as Benford and Edwards prove adept at not cluttering the main thrust of the music.
It's fair enough to ask whether Tennis and their brethren will stand the test of time; as the Top 40 convincingly demonstrates, even an obvious hook and a simplistic melody grab human beings in ways that theoretical soundscapes don't. For the moment, however, Tennis effectively harness the innovation of their more experimental peers in a concisely crafted album that should earn an audience beyond dedicated electro-heads.
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