Sometimes there's a lot more to Electronic music than just the merry dance of binary. Sometimes you need to step away from the computer, out of the bedroom and into the light. Sometimes you need to implant a heart, into a robot (although be warned, I've seen movies where they've done this, and they don't end well). Sometimes, you need to take apart the machine, just to see what makes it tick.

The Dying Seconds are not mechanics, in the literal sense; But they can fix your heart.

Recording together as The Dying Seconds since early 2007, David Cantan and Jack Quilligan are a duo who produce the sort of warm electronic grooves that would have Kraftwerk calling an emergency team meeting in their space station. Drawing influence from a long line in sonic pioneering, from Orbital to Aphex twin, via Radiohead and Death Cab for Cutie, The Dying Seconds have their fingers on a lot of pulses. Previously in indie gang, Vemorana, the twosome took stock of their lot, turned to the cold landscape that is electronic music, and began to slash liberally at the scene with the warmth of assorted instruments: Piano, Trumpet, Violin, Melodica, Mandolin, Guitar and Tunisian Bagpipes to name but a few. The result is a masterpiece of fusion. The sense and sensibility of honest, lyrical rock and roll, and the unforgiving and intense virtual world of beats and bleeps. Think Dntel and Boards of Canada, sharing an afternoon tryst in some pay by the hour motel with Do Make Say Think and Elbow. It might sound sleazy, but it's not. Well, only if it actually happened.

Collaborating with Dublin underground stars Tidal District and the wonderful Jennnifer A. Roche of CFIT fame, releasing an album (for free) which has illuminated the Blogosphere and even finding time to please fans of the piano man himself, Billy Joel, in their live shows. The Dying Seconds are one for the future. This is handy, because it sounds like they're actually from there.

David Charles Byrne