Arvio

This compilation, made with a very high sound production quality, opens with Jebus' weird track in which a thin melody runs nowhere for over 15 minutes, accompanied by things such as birds. The piece breaks and changes in tone here and there, and as it proceeds, the changes become more and more severe. From the boring start it turns into excellent, thin art-noise. Directive 4's segment is a short, strongly echoed "waves of sound come and go" piece in an electro-acoustic vein. Green End Listening Station presents undistorted guitar, played without any apparent processing for 12 minutes, transforming the sound into something close to a drone. The idea is basically very clever, distinguishing itself from the numerous similar but feedback-based compositions already existing, but unfortunately the track doesn't stay interesting enough. It's just good guitar, not a change of mental state.

Swn plays a 16-minute ambient piece, one that starts with clinical sounds and a structure highly reminiscent of the works of Dual, yet then becomes unique as a piano is introduced to the mix. As a composition the track is quite fine, and complex, but just like the preceding track, it does not stay intriguing enough. Ulysses Girelle (who as far as I know normally makes harsher noise) has created clear-toned noise ambient dominated by some few clinical sounds. Again, a structurally fine, yet non-touching piece. It seems to be lacking a widening of its sonic range from one spike to a full wall of sound. The Buff Monkey Ensemble is also using here an acoustic guitar sound and drones, but unlike the previous attempts, manages to create a piece that's very good on both the technical and the emotional level. Grinding rock-chords transform into a soundscape emphasized by sound effects near the start. At the end the track breaks into less fitting singing, though. The disc ends with Psychic Space Invasion, this time doing squeaky-based minimalistic ambient that has a top layer of extremely loose sound bits. This is by far the finest track on the album, a song in which small disturbing sounds create a harmonious whole.

This album is very hard to appraise, because on it is a collision of definite technical and compositional skills against a clear sense of unpleasant detachment. It's interesting, but not very enjoyable. On the other hand, it may not be necessary to appraise the record at all: the label sells this compilation at the price of just its mailing costs, and this introduction to new talent is definitely worth that money. The cost-to-quality ratio is thus undeniably excellent for a buyer, and I expect that especially people who enjoy electro-acoustic stuff will get a lot out of buying this album.

Jiituomas

The Breath of Forgotten Places

Erittäin hyvällä tuotantojäljellä varustetun walesilaisen kokoelman avaa Jebus oudolla raidalla, jossa ohut junnaava melodia jauhaa paikallaan lintujen yms. säestyksellä yli vartin ajan, katkeillen ja muuttuen taajuudeltaan aina välillä. Mitä pitemmälle mennään, sitä rajummiksi muutokset tulevat. Tylsästä alusta päädytään kohti erinomaista ohutta taidenoisea. Directive 4:n osuus on lyhyt, voimakkaan kaikuisa elektroakustisen tyylinen "soittoaaltoja ilmestyy" ja katoaa -teos. Green End Listening Stationilta on särötöntä hakkaavaa kitaraa, jota soitetaan prosessoimattomana eteenpäin 12 minuuttia, niin että sen ääni muuttuu ikään kuin droneksi. Sinällään idea on mainio, ja poikkeaa lukuisista feedback-pohjaisista vastaavista teoksista kiitettävästi, mutta raita ei ikävä kyllä pysty pitämään kuulijan mielenkiintoa riittävästi yllä. Se on vain hyvää kitaransoittoa, ei mielentilan muutos.	Formaatti: CD-R Levy-yhtiö: Elvis Coffee Julkaisuvuosi: 2005 Painos: 75 kpl Kokonaiskesto: 68:32 Kappaleita: 7
Swn esittää 16-minuuttisen ambient-kappaleen, jonka kliiniset äänet ja rakenne tuovat alussa ainakin minulle vahvasti mieleen Dualin tuotannon, mutta sitten ilmaantuva piano tekee kokonaisuudesta hyvin omanlaisensa. Kappale on sävellyksenä varsin hieno ja monimutkainen, mutta aivan kuten edellinenkin, ei kykene pysymään riittävän kiinnostavana. Ulysses Girelle (joka ilmeisesti tekee tavallisemmin rajumpaa noisea) on luonut kirkasta noiseambientia, jossa muutamat hyvin kliiniset äänet muodostavat pääosan. Jälleen kerran rakenteellisesti hieno teos, joka ei kosketa. Jään kaipaamaan äänen leviämistä yhdestä piikistä kokonaiseksi valliksi. The Buff Monkey Ensemble käyttää sekin akustista kitaraa ja dronea, mutta toisin kuin aikaisemmat, saa aikaiseksi sekä teknisesti että tunnelmallisesti erittäin toimivan luomuksen. Jauhava rock-komppi todella muuttuu äänimaisemaksi, jota alun taustaefektit korostavat. Lopussa raita tosin hajoaa lauleskeluksi. Viimeisenä soi Psychic Space Invasion joka tällä kertaa on päättänyt tehdä minimalistista vinkuvataustaista ambientia, jossa on todella vahvasti irrallisia kuvioita päällimmäisenä. Kyseessä on albumin ylivoimaisesti hienoin teos, jossa pienet häiritsevät äänet yhdistyvät yleiseen harmoniaan. Tätä levyä on hyvin vaikea arvioida, sillä siinä kohtaavat hyvin selkeästi tekninen osaaminen ja ikävällä tavalla etäinen kylmyys. Se on kiinnostava, vaan ei erityisen nautittava. Mutta toisaalta, ei ehkä tarvitsekaan päättää: levy-yhtiö tarjoaa tätä kiekkoa pelkkien postikulujen hinnalla, ja sen hinnan arvoinen tämä tutustumisretki uusiin tekijöihin ehdottomasti on. Hinta-laatusuhde on kiistatta erinomainen, ja uskon vahvasti että varsinkin elektroakustisen tavaran ystävät saavat tästä huomattavan paljon irti. Jiituomas

Takaisin - Kokoelmat - A - B - C - D - E - F - G - H - I - J - K - L - M - N - O - P - R - S - T - U - V - W - Demot

This compilation, made with a very high sound production quality, opens with Jebus' weird track in which a thin melody runs nowhere for over 15 minutes, accompanied by things such as birds. The piece breaks and changes in tone here and there, and as it proceeds, the changes become more and more severe. From the boring start it turns into excellent, thin art-noise. Directive 4's segment is a short, strongly echoed "waves of sound come and go" piece in an electro-acoustic vein. Green End Listening Station presents undistorted guitar, played without any apparent processing for 12 minutes, transforming the sound into something close to a drone. The idea is basically very clever, distinguishing itself from the numerous similar but feedback-based compositions already existing, but unfortunately the track doesn't stay interesting enough. It's just good guitar, not a change of mental state. Swn plays a 16-minute ambient piece, one that starts with clinical sounds and a structure highly reminiscent of the works of Dual, yet then becomes unique as a piano is introduced to the mix. As a composition the track is quite fine, and complex, but just like the preceding track, it does not stay intriguing enough. Ulysses Girelle (who as far as I know normally makes harsher noise) has created clear-toned noise ambient dominated by some few clinical sounds. Again, a structurally fine, yet non-touching piece. It seems to be lacking a widening of its sonic range from one spike to a full wall of sound. The Buff Monkey Ensemble is also using here an acoustic guitar sound and drones, but unlike the previous attempts, manages to create a piece that's very good on both the technical and the emotional level. Grinding rock-chords transform into a soundscape emphasized by sound effects near the start. At the end the track breaks into less fitting singing, though. The disc ends with Psychic Space Invasion, this time doing squeaky-based minimalistic ambient that has a top layer of extremely loose sound bits. This is by far the finest track on the album, a song in which small disturbing sounds create a harmonious whole. This album is very hard to appraise, because on it is a collision of definite technical and compositional skills against a clear sense of unpleasant detachment. It's interesting, but not very enjoyable. On the other hand, it may not be necessary to appraise the record at all: the label sells this compilation at the price of just its mailing costs, and this introduction to new talent is definitely worth that money. The cost-to-quality ratio is thus undeniably excellent for a buyer, and I expect that especially people who enjoy electro-acoustic stuff will get a lot out of buying this album. Jiituomas