Furthernoise has issued a label overview of GoS in a recent edition.

VRYASHN BY JEEMY BIBLE AND JASON HENRY REVIEWED IN THE WIRE

Several new Gears of Sand releases due for release before the end of October

'cllpss' by stephen bishop
 
And four beautiful new guitar ambient drone records by artists lending their unique interpretations from the U.S., Australia, and Japan.
 
These include:
'f/m' by p.d. wilder (u.s.a.)
'self titled' by northern valentine & p.d. wilder (u.s.a.)
'unrefined' by zac keiller (australia)
'guitar' by saito koji (japan)
 
Soon thereafter, new releases that are all ready to go by:

Pholde
Mirkho Uhlig
Mathieu Ruhlmann

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH THE MYSTERIOUS ASHER THAL-NIR

1. Tell me about the idea behind 'simple machines'?
 
asher: the main idea was trying to get back to working with material in a similar way to the methods used for 'graceful degradation', which was made using many long loops of piano recordings. also, i had recently moved and my work with sound was maybe starting to reflect the new environment with these works. i had borrowed my brother's acoustic guitar and i was playing around with it and recording little things, and the works just developed from that. i formed loops of the material from the guitar and combined them with some recordings from fm radio.
 
2. Tell me about what inspires you to make sound?
 
asher: i think the main thing is just sounds themselves and the ability to work with them directly through the use of recording and playback devices. also, the work of other artists and thinkers have served as inspiration for elements of my own work.
 
3. Have any artists in particular be influential? are they other sound artists or visual?
 
asher: something i have been listening to lately are the works of juan jose calarco, i have been very impressed with his compositions.
 
Also, I'm especially curious how you would be influenced by thinkers?
 
asher: there is not always a direct relationship between an influence and the evidence of it in one of my works; things suggest other things and ideas influence process, and in the end each new piece is made with the experience of past work combined with new thoughts, ideas and materials which emerge in the moment.
****************

SECONDS IN FORMALDEHYDE EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH TOBIAS FISHER

FEATURE INTERVIEW WITH SECONDS IN FORMALDEHYDE IN THE LATEST INSTALLMENT OF TOKAFI


"15 Questions to Seconds in Formaldehyde: At the beginning of 2007, it seemed the last thing the world needed was yet another guitar drone project. Now the year is nearing its end, we're happy Martin Fuhs of Seconds in Formaldehyde didn't care about that estimation. Admittedly, his first full-length releases on Umbra Records and Gears of Sand still owed a lot to his musical hero Aidan Baker: Minimal and looped melodic lines were slowly woven into dense aural carpets, which gradually started pulsating in a polyrhythmic and multiharmonic shimmer. But then came "Suddenly Silence burst my Ear", his third album, which proved to be a first breakthrough: Energetic and raw, yet detailed and refined, it took his music to a next level and offered fans of the genre a true alternative. As it turns out, Fuhs is a man who loves many different styles of music and is gradually integrating his plentiful influences into a personal handwriting. More and more, his artistic background is becoming clearer, as the compositions are turning more complex, harmonically confusing and creative in terms of sound. The pinacle of this development is "Construct", a one-track release on his newly founded Waterscape label, which suddenly offers comparisons to the earliest days of cosmic electronic music, and fuses the abstractions of the clicks n cuts scene with full, atmospheric textures. As 2008 draws nearer, we can't wait for the latest developments from the field of guitar drones.
*******
Hi! How are you? Where are you?

I'm doing fine, thanks for asking. Currently I'm sitting behind my laptop in a small town near erfurt.

What’s on your schedule right now?

Quiet a lot to be honest. I have finished the first release for my new label waterscape records. Its by myself and its titled “construct”. Then i have to finish the second release on waterscape which is going to be by paul bradley. I'm doing this all by myself, so it means that its a whole lot of work, including artwork.Then i recorded new material for a few releases later this year or next year. One Release will be on Small Doses in America and its titled “Injection”. Its a 3”cd-r with quite a bit heavier stuff. There is also going to be a 3”cd-r on Phage Tapes in America. And I'm also planning a few more live gigs. One will be in ilmenau as a part of a big live jam session with other local artists from the electronica scene in November.

What or who was your biggest influence as an artist? Do you see yourself as part of a certain tradition or as part of a movement?

I would lie if i wouldn't mention the name aidan baker. He has a huge influence to my music to be honest. But I'm also influenced by artist's like bohren & der club of gore or tim hecker, even if you wouldn't compare my music to theirs. And I'm a big fan of fear falls burning and oren ambarchi. I don't see myself as a part of a tradition since I'm pretty young and most of these guys have been writing their music for years. But i also don't think that I'm part of a movement, because a movement in my opinion is something that will come to an end. And i see myself doing this music even in 10 years or so. (Hopefully)

What’s your view on the music scene at present? Is there a crisis?

I think we should look at two different scenes. The kind of “pop” scene and the “experimental” scene. As long as i can enjoy listening to releases from the experimental scene i will stay happy. I think a tim hecker ringtone on jamba would cause some sort of a crisis but as long as this doesn’t happen, everything should be fine.

What does the term "new“ mean to you in connection with music?

Showing new aspects of music. New ways of making sounds.

How do you see the relationship between sound and composition?

You need to have a sound to make a composition. So that's the relationship.

How strictly do you separate improvising and composing?

I don't separate them. Most of my music is created out of a improvisation. But I'm also composing music. I think you can't separate them, because they just fit together.

What constitutes a good live performance in your opinion? What’s your approach to performing on stage?

I think a good performance depends on the quality of the music played. The quality of the composition should fit but also the quality of the sound. Video screens would be interesting for me, but in an other way i think they would distract from the music. When I'm performing live, i have a starting point. So all my music is based on that point. The rest is totally improvised and i think that keeps it exciting.

A lot of people feel that some of the radical experiments of modern compositions can no longer be qualified as “music”. Would you draw a border - and if so, where?

I wouldn't draw a border. Its all about the person who is listening to this music. If the person doesn't like the music then that's her musical taste.

Are “serious” and “popular” really two different types of music or just empty words without a meaning?

I would tend to say that they are just 2 words without meaning. Just like the question you ask above, it's all about the person who is listening to this music. Person A could say that it is serious music while person B thinks that it's just popular music. Everything is a matter of musical taste.

Do you feel an artist has a certain duty towards anyone but himself? Or to put it differently: Should art have a political/social or any other aspect apart from a personal sensation?

I don't think that art should have a political or social meaning. But everyone should make up their minds about that themselves.

True or false: People need to be educated about music, before they can really appreciate it.

Yes and no. I don't need to know much of musical history or theory to listen to music. But sometimes a certain education could show you new aspects about the music that you are listening to.

Imagine a situation in which there’d be no such thing as copyright and everybody were free to use musical material as a basis for their own compositions – would that be an improvement to the current situation?

No improvement. There are to many lazy people who would just copy a few things and tell you that they did everything by themselves.

You are given the position of artistic director of a festival. What would be on your program?

Artist list: Aidan Baker (a Solo Set as well as a Set as Nadja), Tim Hecker, Fennesz, Fear Falls Burning, Oren Ambarchi, Isis and Bohren & der Club of Gore. Bohren & der Club of Gore as the closing act. They would play the complete “Sunset Mission” since it's my all time favourite Album. Perhaps a few Projections and that's all. For most of the people it would be a pretty boring festival, but i would love it.

Many artists dream of a “magnum opus”. Do you have a vision of what yours would sound like?

I do dream of a magnum opus, but i think I'm far away from that.

-Tobias Fischer, Tokafi

GREEN AND COLD BY AIDAN BAKER GOING OUT OF PRINT

There are 5 copies of this fantastic disc left!!!

They can be had for the rock-bottom price of $5.00!

GREEN AND COLD BY AIDAN BAKER GOING OUT OF PRINT

There are 5 copies of this fantastic disc left. They can be had for the rock-bottom price of $5.00!

GREEN AND COLD BY AIDAN BAKER GOING OUT OF PRINT

There are 5 copies of this fantastic disc left. They can be had for the rock-bottom price of $5.00!

INTERVIEW WITH TRUE COLOUR OF BLOOD

 
1. Unlike a zillion other players out there today, you are not at all new to the now trendy guitar drone/noise/ambient scene--in fact, in your website bio you talk about playing guitar for over 20 years and enjoying the challenge of synth-less ambient--assuming that you can play many different styles, what inspired you to go atmospheric? other specific players? also, what do you think of the new and burgeoning web-based scene w/ guitar droniacs such as Aidan Baker, Fear Falls Burning, Paul Bradley, Seconds in Formaldehyde to name a few?
 
Yeah, I’ve been playing guitar since I was fifteen and I’m forty-two now so I’ve been playing for twenty-seven years now (jesus christ I’m old!) I started out playing hardcore and metal in the early 80s and then kind of moved into a sort of “indie” guitar sound. What inspired me to go atmospheric would probably be “Loveless” by My Bloody Valentine. Also, Flying Saucer Attack, Spacemen3, early Pink Floyd, Windy & Carl, Bowery Electric, etc. I just loved the fact that people were stretching the guitar to get different sounds. Around 1996 I started messing around with some ideas that I had and bought a 4-track and just started recording this really heavy, droney guitar stuff for myself because I wanted to hear things that I didn’t know existed. I didn’t even know there was “ambient” music but I had that sound in my head and wanted to get it out on tape. So it went from a real thick, heavy, monotonous drone to more atmospheric and darker over the years. As far as new players, I honestly haven’t heard too much. Partially because I’d rather not be influenced by hearing what other people are doing in that sort of “genre” and also because I really don’t listen to ambient music too much. I’d rather throw some T. Rex or The Jam on the turntable. I did hear someone yesterday just cruising around on the internet and I could have sworn it was TCOB. It was weird because it sounded exactly like something that I would record. It was kind of cool.
 
2. Your new record is a HUGE statement that TCOB is more than just back but still pushing the envelope of ambient music. It sounds like there's a real freedom in your playing here--like you are fully in touch with what you want to do without any constraints (SOO many ambient records reek of constant self-editing/studio tweeking but not yours which is very refreshing).
 
I didn’t feel inspiration to record or play on a consistent basis. There would be a few days here and there then nothing for six or nine months and then I’d feel inspired again to record for a few days and then maybe four months would go by without playing or recording. I wasn’t interested in recording something that I felt I recorded a few years ago. I wanted to get some new sounds and ideas but it’s really hard to do that given the limitations of what I do so a lot of times you’re repeating what you’ve done before. But I did find some ways of doing some new stuff on this release. There are elements of dub that I really love. Some glitches/fucked up moments that I think are cool and just straight ahead droney ambient. I’d add that I think the best way to go about recording; at least for me is to not care what people think, not to record for other people but to record for yourself. My early stuff I was just recording for myself to listen and didn’t think that anyone else would hear it or if they did there’s no way they would get it. So when you get to a point where you know there are people who are going to buy a CD from you, you do sort of self edit and wonder “are people going to like this?” and I’ve found that the pieces I’ve recorded where I’m sure no one is going to like it or get it are the most popular ones. So for you kids just starting out playing ambient guitar, let that be a lesson.
 
3. Where does the title "All Of The True Things I'm About To Tell You Are Lies" come from? I mean it's not particularly subtle, but very intriguing as you are using the first person to make a statement about
how religion corrupts. Is this a commentary on the world today? If so, does the holy book on the cover represent both the bible and the koran ?
 
All Of The True Things I’m About To Tell You Are Lies came from an early Kurt Vonnegut book. I guess there’s some deeper meaning behind it but mostly I just thought it would make a cool album or song title. For the most part song titles really mean nothing to me. Just random things that I find interesting. I did play up the CD cover and make it sort of a statement about religion I guess. People can interpret the cover and the title how they want so it is and it isn’t a “holy book” if that makes sense. For me, my de-conversion out of Christianity, the artwork is not such a subtle statement because I know what that “black book” represents to me and what the words written on it mean. You can find lies masquerading as truth in many books so I didn’t want to make an open attack on any single religion but I’m sure people will read into it what they want.
 
4. There are a lot of tracks with clearly political statements. But what intrigues the most is: "Once was blind but now I'm deaf" -- is this a reflection of your age? a growing cynicism towards a political system/media establishment that you have now come to accept as fundamentally and irreversibly broken?
 
“Once was blind but now I’m deaf” goes back to high school for me. Sitting in church with friends and messing around with song titles from a hymnal. There’s an old hymn “Once Was Blind But Now I See” and changing it to “now I’m deaf” is one of those funny titles that stuck with me over the years. I don’t want to turn this into a Christian bashing session but there’s a deeper meaning in that title for me now. The song “Illegally Jailed for Applauding the Violent Death of a World Leader” is pretty much a reflection of what you talked abouT . . . But a few days after I came up with the title General Augusto Pinochet died and it took on a deeper meaning because of all of the illegally jailed and disappeared in Chile. It’s one of the few song titles that actually has a meaning and represents something to me.
 
5. Finally, enough questioning about your political/social ethos, what are your plans for this record? Will you be doing some shows? How do you approach the live performance - improv or do you try to reproduce tracks from the record?
 
My main thing is I hope that people enjoy listening to the disc. I’d love to play some shows but booking shows and promotion is not my strong point at all so I don’t know how much of that will happen. It’s not that I don’t like to play out, I love to but I just don’t have the personality to promote myself the way I would need to. When I do play live it’s mostly an improv situation. There’s no way I can reproduce what’s on CD. I’ll have some ideas that I’ll work with but I improv around those ideas.

 
True Colour of Blood (Right) with Ben Fleury-Steiner Live at Gate, The Rotunda, Philadelphia, PA, March 16, 2008
 

Late June 2008 Update

Well, life and glitches with manufacturing have slowed our typical producitivity in recent weeks. But we are getting things back on track and will have a major release from TRUE COLOUR OF BLOOD soon. Shortlythereater we will be releasing the third suchness release by SECONDS IN FORMALDEHYDE.
In the interim, some recent pictures from a gig with BEN FLEURY-STEINER AND TRUE COLOUR BLOOD have been added to our photogallery. Thanks for your patience--lots of exciting things coming!!

REVIEW OF SOLEMN WORDS FOR A FABLED APPARATUS IN THIS MONTH'S TOUCHING EXTREMES

"Christopher McFall is a poet of the urban solitude. The sources for this gorgeous record were captured by the author during a time in which he was “contending with a series of abrupt transitions”, his reaction being arming himself with a recorder and walking through the city, “recording endlessly, searching for answers”. Honest: no one better than this presumptuous observer will get near the understanding of this kind of feeling, including the above mentioned search, for reasons that don’t need to be explained. Let me just tell, though, that Mr. McFall gained my full solidarity. And after playing the CD, there’s another word to be added, and that’s “respect”. This is an example of how a field recording-derived album should be conceived; all it takes is a keen ear and a good dose of profoundness, which I’m sure the composer owns. Increasingly obscure situations where cars, steps, aircrafts and clatter mix seamlessly constitute the backbone of a creation which obtains the simultaneous results of having the listener forget reality for a while, still focusing the attention on frequencies that reality itself generated. The treatment applied to the tapes is “scientifically natural”, filtered out shades and enhanced pulsations changing the sonic morphology of otherwise regular events (check the short fourth movement, an understated masterpiece). Sounds that own inherent musical qualities, this man capably transforming their apparent inharmoniousness into materials to which the psyche can lean upon, and learn to defend against sudden bursts of idiotic behaviour. Details are unnecessary: it’s a whole world of subterranean beauty, needing total tranquillity for a thorough appreciation. A splendid work, confirming the Kansas City-based artist as one of the right names to follow. “I have no answers or philosophies to provide”, he declares. Believe me, Christopher: this is what we’ve been looking for, and you got there. Not everybody’s able to."

- Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes, June 2, 2008

REVIEW OF SOLEMN WORDS FOR A FABLED APPARATUS BY CHRISTOPHER MCFALL IN CYCLIC DEFROST

"From undigestible sounds to those that took to being linked into significant phrases, Solemn Words For A Fabled Apparatus is music as the threshold of merest presence. Here incipient intentions, only ever intermittent, are energized as recurring ciphers, pale - probably doomed - traces that, however unknowingly, are suggestive of the ubiquitous.

The work isn’t a pursuit, nor an act of reification, and this plainly helps the particular from becoming a token in these processed works for field recordings. An overtly planned observation brings about such alteration of the object that it is annulled, and the process takes on a certain circularity. For all their clarity and exactness, such projects have a whiff of something musty about them. On this occasion, the sounds came to McFall quite spontaneously, unknowingly even, during a difficult period of abrupt transitions in his life, when he took to roving the streets. With what seems like only some minute alteration, the sounds thus take shape in fresh combination, sounding with a full and oftentimes haunting aura, with an obscure depth and vivacity.

The sounds aren’t identified, then, that is to say their differences aren’t lulled into equivalences, but the proceedings aren’t arbitrary either. On the second piece, the air is alive with electricity, with incidental city sounds poised, eager, pathetic, like so many snapping white flags, as clouds lower tattered rain streaks. With the third track McFall’s hand is perhaps most visible: the air growls as a noxious ambient gas seeps out, harboring underneath pulses that thump like trains. With few tools on hand, McFall envelops one in a sonic ecosystem, one that is unsettled and of no illumination, one that is all the better for it."

- Max schaefer , May 16, 2008 in Reviews Issue 20.

New releases by the following artists coming soon

 
Suchness Limited to 100 Series:
 
SECONDS IN FORMALDEHYDE
ENCOMIAST
DRONAEMENT
 
GoS Releases:
 
TRUE COLOUR OF BLOOD
 
GYDJA
 
JEREMY BIBLE AND JASON
HENRY
 
ZAC KEILLER
 
STEPHEN BISHOP
 
SAITO KOJI
 
ELUDER
 
P.D. WILDER
 
MIRKO UHLIG
 
ASHER
 
CELER
 
CHUBBY WOLF

MARCH 28, 2008: Now available "Solemn Words for a Fabled Apparatus" by Christopher McFall

Christopher McFall on the inspiration behind 'Solemn Words':

"This series of works was created between late winter and early fall of 2007 from treated analog tape and digital field recordings. My focus for this series of workings was relatively unfocused, to be quite honest. Some of these pieces were worked and reworked many times before I was satisfied with the work and yet others came out very quickly. During the time in which I was recording these works, I was contending with a series of abrupt transitions in my life, so I spent some time wondering through the city, recording endlessly, searching for answers. I've since found that I have no answers or philosophies to provide. The outcome has yielded only these recordings and they have served as documentation for me in an attempt to preserve the memories of this time. Given that these works were constructed from the city, itself, I am hopeful that they should exhibit themselves as a sort of urban reverie."

Purchase and Sound Samples Click the Image Below

NEW REVIEW OF BLEACH DYE YR HEART BY HINSIDAN ISSUED IN SONOMU

"'Bleach Dye Yr Heart'" has been released on the rapidly-evolving Gears of Sand label. While the title would seem extracted from a stockpile of typical noise band titles, the music is surprisingly low-key; minimalistic as "Ghosts" but with more emphasis on the drone. As the album proceeds, "Vivisection of the Soul" proves truly unsettling and discomfiting, like being stuck in an aluminium air vent with the dull whine of constantly-sucking air howling past your unprotectable ears. The following track takes on the theme, replacing the "wind" with distorted guitar before ebbing out into the low rumble of glorious monotone that reconnects with the uncomfortable feel of the album thus far. The duo temporarily swells to a trio on "Lights, Camera, Addiction" with the added electronics and sequencing of Martin Bryder, an album highpoint with its sombre, cello-like base offset by chipper beats and colourful electronics. In sum, an album hosting a variety of atmospheres and attractions, much like a museum of curios."
-Stephen Fruitman, Sonomu

Purchase and Sound Samples Click the Image Below

NEW REVIEW OF COMPASS BY CON_SENSE ISSUED IN RECENT HYPNOGOGUE

"Kudos to Ben Fleury-Steiner at Gears of Sand for consistently finding superb new artists. This time around it’s Con_Sense with Compass—a rich, deep work that seamlessly melds dark ambient textures with irresistible beats for a fully immersive listening experience. The disk begins with the sinewy electronic slither of “Threshold,” a thick undergrowth of drums and jumbled sounds punctuated with sudden balalaika-like bursts. “Tarika” ups the beat ante with a mechanical clank-and-throb over the rise and fall of ghostly vocals, and begins a gentle Middle-Eastern vibe that carries into the wailing voices and percussive atmosphere of “Gathering From Step Beyond.” From there, “Structures” insinuates itself quietly with a jazzy downtempo beat and hushed tones like half-heard secrets. The fantastically hypnotic “La-U-Tir” charges in next powered by a driving beat and a barrage of electro-birthed sounds. Halfway through the percussion drops away suddenly, and it’s like a reprieve, however temporary, from a forcible groove. This is the pure highlight of the disk. The lengthy drone of “Sirius” then moves in slowly, a welcome sonic balm that calms like a long, soul-felt exhalation. An easy beat rises to complement the quiet base without disturbing the relaxed feel it’s imparted. This is a beautifully meditative stretch, time well spent inside the sound. Then it’s back into high gear with the potent bass twang and long-hanging pads of “Compass Error” as they swirl upward in an ever-more-complex spiral of sound. The disk closes with “Starry Sky,” replete with appropriately twittering, glistening sequencer lines. This is a disk that will most certainly get a lot of repeat play, and offers enough depth and layering of sound to reward subsequent listens. Have I gushed about Compass enough yet? Clearly, this is a Hypnagogue Highly Recommended CD."

Purchase and Sound Samples Click the Image Below

NOW AVAILABLE "Himmelhvælv " by Rumforskning

We are extremely proud to release this brand new work by one of our favorite groups out there, Rumforskning. Danny and Mads create the kind of sound of impermanence that strike to the core of the GoS aesthetic: minimal, haunting, but always evolving, however subtly.

Regarding this work, we asked Rumsforskning to provide us insight into the inspiration behind Himmelhvælv:

R: "When we look at the night sky we get a sense of space as a very dark and empty place. However space is much more than what we can make sense of. Dark matter/energy are just words used to hint at a description of what is ultimately unperceivable to us. Himmelhvælv draws a line between the shortcomings of both scientific description and religious myth, and portrays space as an abstract place ruled by unfamiliar shapes."

GoS: "How would you summarize Rumforskning's sonic approach ?"

R: "Despite Denmark being a fairly small place, we are located in separate cities when we make the music. One of us usually starts out with a very minimal sketch and we let it exchange back and forth between us with more layers getting added at each place until a sort of critical mass is reached, and we begin to think of it as a finished track. We always strive to keep the layers within a rather narrow aesthetics, which allows us to claim the music portrays some kind of astronomical event. It's the final interpretability of the music as a metaphor for outer space that makes all the difference to us when we judge the quality of a work in progress."

Purchase and Sound Samples Click the Image Below

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SUCHNESS 1: AIDAN BAKER LIVE FROM THE ROTUNDA HAS SOLD OUT AND IS OFFICIALLY OUT OF PRINT

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REVIEW OF SUCHNESS 1: AIDAN BAKER LIVE FROM THE ROTUNDA BY ANDEE OF AQUARIUS RECORDS

"An ultra limited live document, of Baker performing in Philadelphia in February of 2007. A gorgeous set of deep dark ambient drones, minimal, ghostly, haunting, slow building, but never really reaching resolution, instead building all sorts of glorious tension, then slowly fading out again. The opener, is a slowly swirling sea of deep dark tones, almost bell like, but spread out into lugubrious melodies, softly pulsing and gently drifting. The middle two tracks are much less bass heavy, instead offering up hisses and whirs, the creepy exhalations of some old abandoned industrial wasteland, notes and tones and chimes, slowly making their way up from the abyss, through the hazy, gauzey atmosphere, indistinct and blurred, but gradually taking shape, and assembling themselves into almost-melodies. The final and longest track, begins super spare, long tones, and single notes let loose in an expanse of soft shimmer and lots and lots of space, like someone playing a guitar, in slow motion, miles away, the sounds taking forever to reach the speakers, and once they do, they've degraded and changed, merely shadows of the original sounds they once were. But the track explodes near the end into a glorious polyphonic sonic sunburst, streaks of high end skree shot skyward, the crowd bathed in the white glow of this pulsing, organic, slowly expanding sound. And with all live shows like this, the smattering of applause at the end is so surprising, like there were only maybe 20 people there (which there probably were) as the sound is so massive, it's hard not to imagine that Baker wasn't in some huge cathedral, behind a massive bank of lights and soundmakers, instead of hunched over his gear in some dingy little club. Recorded by Scott Slimm, who runs the aRCHIVE label (as well as recording many of the live aRCHIVE releases), and gorgeously packaged in an elaborate fold over origami style cardstock sleeve, silkscreened, each one hand numbered, with a full color insert."

-Andee, Aquarius Records

REVIEW OF 'IRIS OR COMFORTABLE TOO' IN TOUCHING EXTREMES

"Mikronesia is the nom d’art of Michael McDermott. Piano has been his favourite instrument since, as a small child, he was sitting on his grandmother’s lap while she introduced him to the infinite world of the 88 keys. Yet, as life brought in its influence under the form of other involvements (namely playing with various bands and solo electronic music), the artist left the original object of interest alone for a long time. In 2007, though, McDermott decided to go back to the big box, exploiting its timbral properties to conceive a brand new composition mixing the best of two worlds (with a Harold Budd/Brian Eno inspiration, just for starters). Modifying the results with a laptop and an assortment of pedals, Mikronesia serves now an album that surely doesn’t sound neither “Eno” nor “Budd” and is indeed quite personal, this being the feature that made me focus on it a little bit longer than my usual average in these genres. Many of the sounds heard are kind of suffocated - like perceived with a pillow on our head as we desperately try to sleep, the neighbour’s daughter practicing her solfeggio exercises in the contiguous room - and, when in headphones, sometimes a distinct distortion creeps in. Not sure if it was meant to be there - we’re not talking Vangelis-like engineering here. But all those strange electro-deformations - reverse reverbs, glitches, broken waves and interrupted drones - amidst this general atmosphere of “ugly beauty” somehow work well, and in the right conditions and circumstances this is a CD that could introduce several nice revelatory moments. Give it a good test. “Amorphous ambient for discriminating minds”, anyone?"

-Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes, February 2008