This came out in 1999 – or at least that’s when I got it. Here’s what I said about it back then (with some minor editing):
There are few things in life more annoying than a natural-born talent — especially a teenage one. And there are few teens as musically gifted as Scott August, an electronica artist from Kelowna whose nom du disque is French Paddleboat.
Although just 19, he’s already released four indie albums of his semi-ambient, semi-organic sound constructs. As if that precocious achievement weren’t enough to cheese you off, his fifth disc Conversions in Metric — his first release on CD — is undeniably superb. Based around loping beatboxes rhythms and off-kilter loops of vibes, chimes and woodwinds, August’s fluid, dreamy style carries the listener along like the aquatic transport he’s named himself after — and earns him a place alongside masters like Aphex Twin and µ-ziq. If I weren’t so flabbergasted, I’d want to kick his butt.
