** Add N to (X)

AVANT HARD

(Mute)

Add N to (X) are a London synth trio (augmented by two drummers) who have a penchant for antique analog synthesizers. In recent years, myriad artists have embraced the vintage sound of analog to create everything from bubbly pop (Stereolab) to feedback-drenched drones (Swirlies) to textural instrumentals (Tortoise). The best moments on Avant Hard, Add N to (X)'s third CD, come when the band combine all three approaches, composing largely instrumental songs with pop structures and lengths while overloading their synths to provide noise and texture. "Robot New York," for example, layers a coruscating synth melody over a repetitive rhythmic figure. "Metal Fingers in My Body" is an insistently catchy headbanging keyboard exercise with a robotic vocoder vocal.

Too often, though, Add N to (X) merely experiment with sound effects. "Barry 7's Contraption," which amounts to electronic carnival music, and "Ann's Everready Equestrian," a formless blend of dreary organs and what sound like galloping horses, may be interesting as art projects. But as songs they have little to offer.

--Alec Hanley Bemis