TUDOR ACID - Merri Portland

The work of fly-by-night debutant Richard Wigglesworth, Merri Portland certainly pays homage to his love of all things 303 and 909.

A 25-track album of mostly short and sweet acid/braindance nuggets; although the only reference I could find to Tudor royals are a few harp-type accompaniments amidst the reams of acid squiggles and dance beats.

Influences are clearly Aphex/Vibert/µ-ziq – although moreso their early incarnations, before they drifted into IDM, electronica and other dubious tangents.

Merri Portland is an exuberant record, yet annoying in equal doses. Slightly tongue-in-cheek in places, the pussy cat samples of Superstition LV blend well with its ear-clattering drum collages. Otherwise, Wigglesworth is more than happy for his machines to warble away messily, interjecting only to offer the odd keyboard layer, thrusting melody or ambient splash.

Whilst some of Merri Portland glimmers inoffensively and offers the odd radiant charm - Shimmering Phat is captivatingly melodic - too much of it is incoherent and scrambled. Few of Wigglesworth’s ideas reach fruition, and in many cases he passes up the opportunity to make rough diamonds glow.

It would have been far more sensible to hack Merri Portland down to 10-12 tracks and spend substantially more time tweaking those to deliver something cohesive and memorable rather than surrender to this humungous collection of splintered carcasses.

The closing Chine is a good example, a haunting piano track with subtle background strings - it ends prematurely after 1:34. Wigglesworth’s career is likely to be equally short-lived if can’t deliver a more binding experience. As it is, Merri Portland is strictly for Ye Olde crusty acid techno heads.

	5.8
	Tudor Beats ~ TB-003 ~ 15th February 2010
	The work of fly-by-night debutant Richard Wigglesworth, Merri Portland certainly pays homage to his love of all things 303 and 909. A 25-track album of mostly short and sweet acid/braindance nuggets; although the only reference I could find to Tudor royals are a few harp-type accompaniments amidst the reams of acid squiggles and dance beats. Influences are clearly Aphex/Vibert/µ-ziq – although moreso their early incarnations, before they drifted into IDM, electronica and other dubious tangents. Merri Portland is an exuberant record, yet annoying in equal doses. Slightly tongue-in-cheek in places, the pussy cat samples of Superstition LV blend well with its ear-clattering drum collages. Otherwise, Wigglesworth is more than happy for his machines to warble away messily, interjecting only to offer the odd keyboard layer, thrusting melody or ambient splash. Whilst some of Merri Portland glimmers inoffensively and offers the odd radiant charm - Shimmering Phat is captivatingly melodic - too much of it is incoherent and scrambled. Few of Wigglesworth’s ideas reach fruition, and in many cases he passes up the opportunity to make rough diamonds glow. It would have been far more sensible to hack Merri Portland down to 10-12 tracks and spend substantially more time tweaking those to deliver something cohesive and memorable rather than surrender to this humungous collection of splintered carcasses. The closing Chine is a good example, a haunting piano track with subtle background strings - it ends prematurely after 1:34. Wigglesworth’s career is likely to be equally short-lived if can’t deliver a more binding experience. As it is, Merri Portland is strictly for Ye Olde crusty acid techno heads.