reviewed here:
+N- "plane"
Sad World 2- s/t
Alien Community 2- A Long and Perilous Journey
+N- "plane"
PS 08/46
1. Sky 13.15
2. Sky (Liquid) 11.37
3. Sky (Clustered) 4.40
4. Onda Corta 10.26
5. 256 8.34
6. Tone Float 10.17
7. Rain Rain 11.20
8. Reset 3.29
+N is Atom Heart and Victor Sol. After hearing Victor Sol and
Charles (i think) Gate on their CD "Gate/Sol" (reviewed last time) I
thought that Victor Sol would take Atom Heart out of his analogue weirdness
mode and perhaps inject some melody and warm music into the mix. However
I can certainly say that this CD may as well have been straight from
Atom Heart, but perhaps even more strange. The song titles all have a
nice atmospheric lean to them, but none have much of a melody at all.
Each song is mainly big hollow soundscapes with bleeps and warped/twisted
analogue noises riding the top. This CD is truly strange, yet perhaps
intelligent, whatever that is. Definitely nothing new for Atom Heart but
interesting for those that like his style.
Sad World 2
PS 08/45
1. Samarra 40.29
2. Cordoba 20.38
Sad World is again Dr. Atmo and Ramin. Ramin, it seems, can do no
wrong. After excellent singles under his own name and some great songs
under the Afrotrance banner he churns out some more great stuff again with
his fellow Persian Dr. Atmo. However, the Persian influence is noticeably
missing from a big part here. The first Sad World was heavily influenced
by the Persian language and culture. Samarra is very moody, with swirling
repeated synth melodies complemented by analogue strings. It builds and
builds. 16 minutes into the 40 minute track comes some ethnic percussion
and later even some female vocals which takes the track to a melancholy
high. Very well done, yet perhaps a little too long. Cordoba follows
basically the same format but is not as good. Still in a minor chord,
it doesn't build as well thus sounding a little tedious. However it breaks
out into some Persian singing/chanting and drumming which is nice. This
disc is more ambient and a lot different than the first but one of the better
things to come out on the sublabel for a while.
Alien Community 2
PW 14
1. A Long and Perilous Voyage 1.00.39
Alien Community is again Pete Namlook and Jonah Sharp of Space
Time Continuum. The first Alien Community, Interdimensional Communication,
was a wild building work up of noises that get harsher and louder and more
distorted and the calm down, only to build up later. This one has a more
defined focus, yet is not as dynamic. It really is a voyage, that starts
out very quiet and relaxed. It builds, with a pretty cool beat and some
strange, strange sounds. Eventually you return home to the same sounds you
encountered when you left. The main attraction here are the weird sounds
that somehow get beaten out of the keyboards. There is an occassional
syncopated melody, but the traditional Namlook analog strings are absent,
instead using the rhythms that get stronger and stronger to build the music
up. It's definitely long, and if you listen loud enough, can be pretty
perilous. Like Dave Walker said, Namlook's collaborations with other people
have been going very well lately. I'd like to see an Oliver Lieb/Namlook
pairing or a Sven Vath/Namlook CD come my way.
Big thanks to WILL-E, without whom, I wouldn't have a couple of these CDs,
and for maintaining the FAX discography. In fact, I owe you money, and
I'll get it to you soon. Where's the new discography? ;)
Jonathan
eabu751@orion.oac.uci.edu