Gouseion - "Puisne"

Gouseion - Barclay (Run Riot 2007)

Gouseion - Puisne / Run Riot

I've been sitting on Gouseion for quite some time now, trying to decide exactly how much I like this album and why it seems so innocuous the first time you play it through, so harmless, so incidental. It hit me somewhere through the third or fourth play through: This is childlike music in the same way that Modeselektor or, more relevantly, Tepr are childlike: You may have the uneasy air of "Teledate" whispering through, but it's the 8-bit Nintendo themes that dominate these songs. It may not be as carefree or immediately joyous as its French contemporaries or even some on the American scene, but Puisne is definitely an album gamers will grab on to with gusto.

That said, a brief biography is in order: Despite all evidence thus far to the contrary, Cassidy DeMarco is actually not French at all. Rather, DeMarco calls Portland home. There he made a name for himself doing pretty much everything. The proof: Monodec was his abstract IDM alias in the late 90s, which predated slowcore outfit C++ (inspired, he explains, by Jameson Irish whiskey... which is as good a muse as I've ever heard). DeMarco is also involved with Disscompany Records after founding it in 2003 and releasing hip-hop material as Brokaw in addition to his breakcore moniker Minijack, suggesting a return to his electronic beginnings.

But that wasn't enough, oh no. In 2005 he revived Monodec and subsequently recorded two EPs and an LP which, up to now, hasn't been released. So maybe we should be thankful that DeMarco actually did go ahead with releasing Puisne, though this suggests all of his influences over the years rather than any one specific genre. You can hear the NES and SNES systems fighting for control of songs with hip-hop beats and moody passages on tracks like "Turing Test." By the way, he's got two mixtapes out. More are coming.

In other words, 28-year-old DeMarco is a maniac, incredibly restless, and no one style suits him because he can never focus on it for too long. Understandable. I like the idea of DeMarco as a "digital gangsta," as he prefers. More than any other label, that one seems to suit him best. Dude's just a straight-up badass, but putting that in more eloquent terms would necessitate describing his entire back catalog. For your sake and mine, we'll save it for another day. Just know that "Stagger" is an excellent song and peaks as the second-half on an album full of golden electro nuggets, the blocks rounded off by wavering synth trickery you've heard and sort of paid attention to a thousand times before.

"Barclay" is a personal favorite of mine, not because it's the first track and thus one I remember easier. Instead, I find the melody of "Barclay" to suit the opening of this album well and though it could be buried deep in the middle like "Stunt Lounge" or something, I'm pleased that DeMarco went with it as the opener. It is infectious, virtually irresistible, and flows almost unnoticeably into "Study23." At first it seems like cheesy breakcore or something, but it comes around soon enough. Just 38 seconds is all it took to get me hooked. Hopefully the same reaction will happen for you.

I don't know what DeMarco's next plan is - maybe reggae or tech-metal or, better yet, a folk album about all 50 states I bet he could beat Sufjan Stevens to in finishing - but for now, Gouseion's Puisne satisfies as a sublime 8-bit IDM record that deserves more than merely flying below the radar. Soon enough, the kids will be calling out for "Pirony" if there's any, um, justice in this world. Bad wording, but you get the idea.