After 10 years of releasing 12 inches on a variety of seminal labels like Novamute and Soma, Phil Kieran unleashes his first long player, “SHH”. Like the three constantly fighting parts of the psyche, Kieran’s album has a three sided personality comprised of electro (id), minimal (ego), and ambient (superego). The album borrows liberally from the sort of sci-fi sounds that would feel at home in a Doctor Who episode (old or the rebooted series, mind you). The electro side is definitely SHH’s id, acting out by taking electro’s proto-futuristic, kitschy sounds and mutating them in a deliciously disturbing manner. The minimal side takes those squirming, misbehaving noises and squeezes them into a better behaved, minimal context. But the album’s id interferes often, making the rough elements of the minimal tracks bounce almost violently in its rhythmic cage. In some cases it nearly sounds like those rougher parts are strapped-down in a far corner of the room, eliciting dubbed out, contemptuous moans. The more ambient tracks play like SHH’s superego, it’s perfect smooth sounds standing in contrast to the other parts of the album like an example as how they should behave.

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