The subtitle on the cover explains it all: "Copying Machine Music." The art-noise joke here is that these 13 brief tracks are created by subtly altering field recordings of various types of copying machines -- the "songs" are titled after the type of machine in question, such as "Xerox 5818" or "Canon Imagerunner 210S (Serial # NPQ00023)" -- until they have the same sort of lulling, ambient-pop grooves that you might find in the chillout room of your local dance club. The odd thing is that this isn't just a play-it-once joke record; whoever created this (there are no credits, although the fact that it's on
Negativland's Seeland label is probably a clue) actually has some dance music chops. The breakbeats on "Xerox Docucolor 12" are downright funky! A brilliant idea executed superbly, Xerophonics is ambient music for the generation that grew up at Kinko's. ~ Stewart Mason