Self-Assembly, Dexter Dine’s
2019 self-released tape, does a nice job mixing sound collage and disparate
source material with melody. Utilizing every electroacoustic trick in the book
(probably) (what book?) Dexter works with an intriguing palette that teeters on
the edge of found ambience and Orange Milk-y start/stop experimentation. If Self-Assembly is intended as the story
of a mechanical entity gaining sentience and putting itself together, I certainly
wouldn’t be surprised. There’s some Short
Circuit–meets–E.T. thing going on here, and
a deep dive into Dexter’s work reveals an imagination at work that dreams way beyond the human experience. In fact,
I wouldn’t put it out of the realm of possibility that Dexter himself is some
kind of sentient machine. He certainly is able to tap in to the nuances and
details of mechanical science. Self-Assembly
simply serves as an outlet for all that innovation.
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