Oval-SYSTEMISCH
Mille Plateaux/Thrill Jockey
MP LP 9/Thrill 032
2xLP(Clear Vinyl)
Tracks:
'textuell'
'aerodeck'
'politics of digital audio'
'schoner wissen'
'catchy DAAD'
'meditation'
'tonregie'
'oval office'
'compact disc'
'post post'
'gabba nation'
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"...the sound of clicking, skipping, popping CD Players in fast forward,
or reverse mode..."
This is the comment that has most often been used to describe SYSTEMISCH,
and they are not too far off in their assessment. Oval has been on my
mind lately, especially with Rock/Indie label THRILL JOCKEY(based in
Chicago) rereleasing some of Mille Plateaux's material. The other is
Microstoria's INIT DING, on CD only.
It was a shock to get it in my shop, as they had '94 Diskont a year and
half back, but someone snagged it before I could. It also seems that
Derek Jordan is the only one in the big sprawling metropolis of Denver
buying this sort of stuff. Saddening, isn't it?
Anyway, SYSTEMISCH is a good album to listen to on lazy, summery
days(especially on Sunday), because it is, and always will be "background
music for an esoteric mind..." I wouldn't even describe it as being
"ambient", either because some of it can get jazzy, case in
point...'catchy DAAD', even though the track itself doesn't go anywhere,
it has that trancey vibe that slows ones metabolism down a bit, much like
the Basic Channel/Mauritzio stuff does for me.
I didn't know what to expect, but I played it from beginning to end, and
was thoroughly cleansed, aurally. So we have an hours worth of a
skipping CD player noise, surrounded by backwards synth lines, harmonic
distortion, and rats crawling in and out of Oval's monitors. So what!
At least we don't have any preoccupations with "is this triphop, is this
techno, is this ambient" crap.
Just sit back and listen to it. It's entertainment. Whether or not
it keeps you awake or puts you to sleep is another issue altogether...
8/10
Derek Jordan
next:Neuropolitique-NOMENCLATURE(2CD)