Simon Bird
Pegasus Washed In Noise EP

Pegasus Washed In Noise is the third EP by Simon Bird, a mysterious Dublin resident. At first the name seemed familiar although I knew I'd never heard his songs but then I realised...Come And Get Your Dinner, Simon Bird is a track from Turning Down Sex's split EP with Ginola, It's A Disagreeable Thing To Be Whipped.

Quite vast in their scope, my overactive imagination provided a sort of visual backdrop to the aural prompts in these songs. For a fledgling producer this is quite some feat although I'm not a fan of screechy, blarey samples which are apparent in a few isolated spots on the EP. I find them jarring and disorientating when the rest of the songs adhere to a typical structure for the most part.

However, if cinematic horror is used as a description then this unsettling sensation may be exactly the desired effect considering the eerie tinges to the rest of the material. Fantastically-titled, the intro sections to His Mind Is Gone, We'll Harvest What's Left and Waiting For The Test Results begin with rough, jarring noise, though once the experimentation lets up, good sounds follow what's left of the songs. After two full listens I found Spiralling Towards Death In The Swamp Of Despair a track to skip, harsh, rough noise, grating like bone against a whirring saw. In fact, it may be said that these atonal sections are akin to slasher-styles, too much violence in lurid contrast to the others which seem to convey tenstion by the power of suggestion.

Reservations aside, there's a lot to impress in Pegasus Washed In Noise, particularly the odd mixture of ambience and Hip Hop. Introductory track A Ram's Blood Is Thicker Than Yours makes a great first impression in laying out the type of sounds we're to expect, while the deep throb of (0000) sets the tone for dark intimidation...imagine the edge of a forest, a malevolent glow emanating between distant tree trunks as your closest friend takes an absent-minded step towards it and you're powerless to call out in alarm but watch them go, knowing they may never return. Born From Oxen pulls the EP up by shoulders and sets it straight for some proper big beat, old-school Hip Hop. Preceded by a lovely brief melody, the disorientating noise of Waiting For The Test Results goes to overkill, taking up a good 50 seconds out of the song's total 01:30, masking the underlying structure Hip Hop track that is regretfully over too soon.

What's remarkable about this EP is the fashion in which the great variety of sound seems to segue seamlessly from all tracks despite considerable individual difference. It's a striking achievement that makes this a truly enjoyable listen and almost absolves the screeching sections. Owl Eye Plucked From Wood is a really beautiful song that goes from a gentle, tentative two-minute build-up to a full-bodied, unmistakable Hip Hop track that really ties things up. Skip ahead one song and then it's the closing ambience of Wash, slow and echoing the earlier tinge of horror but in a happy-ending of sorts, as if that dear friend did emerge from the woods, the haunted look of secrecy rapidly clearing as you clasp a hand and run without looking back.

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