Antifilm
IO
Statler & Waldorf

There's something rather appealing on first mention of Antifilm that's hard to pinpoint; maybe it's the name, maybe it's the album cover. I'm not really sure. Musically, however, Dane Thomas Bred doesn't quite live up to whatever expectation I had of his debut album "IO". It's not that "IO" is a bad album, rather it's a collection of songs that have difficulty in finding focus or common ground. Of course, variety is the spice of life and an album on which everything sounds the same would make for a boring effort indeed, but there still needs to be some sort of unity throughout. "IO" gives the impression that we have a musician out there with some great ideas, but with little notion of putting together a coherent collection of songs. "What's with all the stars" kicks the album off with a second-rate attempt at some sort of semi-upbeat indiepop, a trait that, thankfully, doesn't rear its head again until "Ovenfra", and I have no idea what in the hell is going on with that particular number. That said, while "IO" does have its abysmal downsides, it makes up for such negatives with the inclusion of some wonderfully atmospheric pieces like "Rondo", "IO" and "Heavy petting", all of which border on the soundtrack/dark ambient genres and all of which showcase Bred at his creative best. Closer "Here comes the son" is labelled as 'the summer hit' and for the life of me I can't think why. Was this a summer hit? And if so, where was it a summer hit? Forgetting that, this album does show that Antifilm has great potential but, for now, has given us just over thirty minutes of material that borders on the pretentious.
- John Norby