People who are immensely talented should do more things. The two guys who constitute Busratch are immensely talented. They’ve only done one other project that I know of, which I haven’t located yet. memorium is wildly entertaining and exhilarating. You can still find it, if you search, though copies are getting harder and harder […]

I first listened to this on lp, which gives an extra dimension of surface noise to the endeavor that cd copies will never have, viz. Marclay’s lp that comes sans sleeve. If you are old enough to remember radio, you will wet yourself at the opening of Grand Surface Noise Opera Nr. 3. If […]

This disc was my introduction to all four of these people. Needless to say, I soon had all the discs of all of them I could find. And I haunt the stores, looking for the next new one. With the first two, that used to be easy. It’s more difficult now, but you can […]

Oddly enough, Dix-sept minutes is almost exactly seventeen minutes long. And while it contains a lot of clock noises, including but by no means limited to ticking and chiming, those sounds are only part of a rich and complex tapestry that also includes acoustic instruments (single notes only), voices (mostly choir sounds […]

In the first of these two silences, Castellani blends internal combustion engines and the squeaky wheels of a farm cart with low drones and vaguely organ-like sounds, along with both natural and harshly processed bird calls. Blends is perhaps a bit of a misnomer. While there are long stretches where sounds gradually […]

Gloria opens with an innocent little tune which suggests without actually doing it that it could do some serious rollicking. Not until some talking, and a couple of explosive sounds, does the tune, now clearly played by an accordion, start to dance. That tune (variants of it) is whistled and sung, too, […]

Some pieces, like Sacre du printemps, sneak up on you, sweet talking you before grabbing you by the throat or knocking you over the head and throwing you in the back of the roller coaster. Some, like Metamorphose, dispense with step one. Both are lovely ways to do music; both leave you […]

Do not expect wild Cuban dance rhythms here. While there are suggestions of dance in Credo Mambo, they’re pretty subtle and always integrated into the larger plan of rich electronic and concrète backdrop for the chanting voices. I must say, that although I’m one of those who prefers less talking, Chion has a […]

The relatively calm and soothing world of dark low frequencies soon gives way to harsh, abrasive noise. There’s even some screaming à la metal, which is good fun for the kids. Doesn’t last; the bulk of the disc (“Beneath Ice Skin,” “Lunar Nest Guard,” and “Space Coffin”) is just the wild and […]

Who says Sacramento isn’t cool? Sacramento is cool. Crawl Unit is from Sacramento. These recordings were all made in Sacramento. ‘Nuff said.
There are five “sound events” on this disc. I don’t know whether that’s J. Colley’s term or Erik Hoffman’s, but I like it. (I may even start calling Mahler’s symphonies and […]