Woven - 8 Bit monk

At the very least, Woven’s 8 Bit Monk is an interesting release – a CD I never thought I would hear branded with an Interscope Records logo. This six man collective of musicians who utilize synths, keyboards, drum machines, samples, and program more than the standard guitar/bass/drums lineup concoct a sound that fits somewhere between the glitch and whir world of the electronic world and the life and energy of the alt-rock community. Much like Tweaker, Chris Vrenna’s post-Nine Inch Nails solo project, 8 Bit Monk crafts layer upon layer of digital bleeps, analog synths, pulsing rhythms, and subtle acoustics to arrive at a full-length that would interest fans of A Perfect Circle, Stabbing Westward, and Aphex Twin. While 8 Bit Monk’s eleven tracks eventually end up sounding eerily the same and a bit boring, Woven do most definitely hold a talent of meshing genres and pushing pop’s borders, most poignantly heard on “My Conditioning.” [www.wovenmusic.com]