DOM F. SCAB: Binary Secrets

Dom F. Scab

Binary Secrets

© 2001 Groove Unlimited (8715164000538)

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Progressive electronic

tracks

1 Zero and One
2 Cause & Effect
3 Signos
4 Zinc
5 The Unpredictable Device
6 Difficult Encounter
7 Crazy Trigonometry
8 Shunt
9 Secrets
10 The Peaches Are Skiing in the Shade

notes

Dom is in a groove. His latest release is every bit as good as the previous two, Inner Seed and Silent Mars (with John Lakveet). This one jumps right out of the starting gate with his effusive, bubbly sequencing and light electronics. My young daughter goes “do do do” along, my feet are tapping, you just can’t sit still or quietly while listening to active, engaging music like this. Bright, crisp atmospheric textures form layer upon layer, intricately weaved together. Cause and Effect, for example, blends synth sounds of muted trumpet and guitar with a midtempo sequencer loop, lush synth pads, and a bass sequence that echoes the main sequence. Scab has found a style that works, and he sticks to it. Though mostly upbeat, there are some variations, such as the relaxed Zinc. Though this track has a more laid back pace, the synths have a surprisingly fiery intensity at times. Throughout the disc, Dom gives sequencer fans lots of what they want. Numbers like The Unpredictable Device and Shunt have a playful bass loop that is so cool and fun, you just have to smile. I’m reminded both of Tangerine Dream and some of Edgar Froese’s solo work such as Kamikaze. Difficult Encounter is a darker sound world, without sequencing, and works equally well. Secrets is an unusually long piece for Dom, running just over ten minutes. Even here, though, he simply finds a comfortable sequence that he likes, and holds to it, building on it well with various enjoyable electronics throughout. Special mention must be made of the closing track, The Peaches are Skiing in the Shade, if for no other reason than to say the name. I’m guessing this must be an inside joke, perhaps even a tribute to Edgar himself, who has been known to pen some unusual titles in his day. It all adds up to another strong showing for Dom F. Scab.
2001 Phil Derby / Sequences Magazine


With the strength of a painter from the Renaissance, in this album, Dom F. Scab embarks into an exciting adventure through the roaring waters of the most risky trends in the Space Sequencer Music.
The cover and the title of the CD certainly suggest the nature of the music. Presented, in a way, as an electronic symphony where the digital and the analogic give flesh to the main characters of a history with a high dramatic intensity, the allegories of a union between the organic and the cybernetic are musically translated into a collection of pieces with a different dramatic tension, as if they were the scenes of a movie.
These musical scenes evoke such things as risk, triumph, the epic crusades of an uncertain end, fear or courage, to mention but a few. The composer knows how to blend the sound ingredients with a masterful hand, avoiding the monotony that sometimes taints so many synthesists, and providing the music with a lively character, hazardous, typical of acoustic performances.
There are slow passages of pure meditative Space Music, yet not merely ambient, but rather dominated by specific melodies of a great strength. The sequencers develop a varied range of roles, from those characterized by a physical, roaring power, to those that appear to be crossing the threshold of the intangible.
Jorge Munnshe

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