By Liz Belilovskaya

Depressed Buttons released a half hour long preview mix tape Mixmeat as an introduction for their debut EP album Qwerty dropping December14. The comically long track is loaded with various mixed and heavily-altered samples of major influential artists for the Buttons. The band’s influence arsenal is loaded from Bob Dylan to Underworld and I’m fairly certain Enigma was in there somewhere. Frankly though, it won’t matter who the Buttons are paying tribute to; they make whatever they craft their own.

The work’s title is appropriate, as they touch on a numerous styles starting from Motown to early alternative house music, all magically united by a techno envelope that packages the resulting product. Any one electronic sound that can be fathomed emerges in this 32 minute segment, from the sound of a popping metal spring to supersonic spaceship and the input on the senses is hard to miss.

Many rhythm patterns are implemented in Mixmeat but they are all upbeat and definitely danceable. It’s a high energy, pulse intensifying, move your ass kind of experience and there really is very little that can be done about it. I could not stop myself from moving my feet and tapping my fingers to the beats. The Buttons are capable at capturing your attention and holding it for a while.

The trio did lend their voices to the segment, and their voices are distinguishable even though at times they very highly altered and used more like sound effects than for any lyrical value; it’s techno after all. Yet the voices give music a nice texture that even the heavy machinery and disguise could not get rid of. Although the techno lead track credibly stands out from some other similar electronic- loving artists of today, their sound is reminiscent of the 1980’s NY Club Kid music scene and Prodigy.

Depressed Buttons are not ground breaking or revolutionary by any means. They use samples or at least tunes resembling music produced over the past fifty years but they are pretty clever in their arrangements. These days, that’s just how music evolves or at least continues to be produced, by building up.

The hope here is that the soon to be released debut album shows a little more creative exploration. It’s not that the record is boring, far from it, but the group is on a good path here and they just need to go the distance. Perhaps they have and we will see that when the EP comes out. They are a capable bunch who have the idea and the proper technological approach to their music to make something pretty sweet if they really take the creative control further than they dared for Mixmeat. Perhaps they are saving the best for last.

Overall, I was pleasantly surprised at my experience listening to Mixmeat. I heard it for the first time at 7am on a crowded subway and initially thought it would be too high-voltage to listen to that early in the morning. It was uplifting, and made the train ride nicer. The music allowed me to focus on the sophisticated beats instead of the crowd as I tapped away to myself. Depressed Buttons it seems, have the skills to elate with good music.

Depressed Buttons-Mixmeat Mixtape by maddecent

Download ‘Mixmeat’ w/ tracklisting here: http://www.mediafire.com/?fdll9swqtzkt26g

Loosie – Siriusmo
Tempest – Ramadanman
Push Upstairs – Underworld
Claptraps – J0e
I Just Wanna Fuck – Baltimore Club Music
Yard Birds (Depressed Buttons Remix) – Boy 8-Bit
Yes & No – Discosamurai
Zzafrica – ZZT
Ewid Disco (Drop The Lime Remix) – Wafa
Erotic Discourse – Paul Woolford
Antidote – Style Of Eye & Magnus
Papa New Wave – Fare Soldi
Hands Up (French Fries Remix Db Edit) – Daniel Haaksmann feat. Seguindo Sonhos
Never Stop (Erol Alkan Rework) – Gonzales
Body Jack – Geht’s Noch?
Drop – Cornelius
Wigwam – Bob Dylan

out of 5

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