someone requested a chiastic slide review. alex reynold's post from early march
was one of the highlights of the season. one of the few things on idm that
actually received praise from the oft grumpy greg eden! it was so nice, i saved
it. cheers, alex.
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Date: Mon, 10 Mar 1997 04:39:42 -0500
From: Alex Reynolds <polygon@jhu.edu>
Auteche. Chiastic Slide
Warp LP49/CD49
i've always enjoyed each ae release, yet this one was the most challenging
to digest. as you will see below, i do recommend this album, but not to
first-time ae listeners. i feel that this is an ambitious work of theirs,
which cannot be appreciated without considering the nature of their
earlier releases.
one definition of the chiastic device follows: "in the story setting, the
device of chiasm creates parallel events in a reflection about the central
point consisting of an idea common to both." in other words, the chiastic
slide is the movement/fusion of two crossing paths of information to yield
one ideal message contained (imperfectly) in both. the optic chiasm, for
example, takes two 2D, slightly-off center copies of reality and sends
them for proper processing in the brain to yield a better 3D impression of
reality.
where this ae release leaves their other releases behind is the desire to
cross the repetition expected of electronica with the melody expected of
almost every other form of western music, the end result being a *unified*
piece of music. we don't see this ambition to the same degree with, say,
_garbage_, a very ambient, repetitive work. most of _incunabula_, on the
other hand, is melody-oriented, with the beats playing second fiddle. the
quality of each release is not denied, but they are almost monothematic,
in a sense, and capture only one aspect of music.
but does ae pull the mix off? i worked my way through each song to try to
find a common theme:
cipater
--
starts noisy and chilly, like taking a stroll through a decayed
metropolis, "slides" into a 3/4 rolling rhythm which is almost Carribean,
like daydreaming yourself at the beach whilst sitting in an urban highrise
doing busywork. lovely synth and string work at the end underlines the
'dreamlike' aspect of this piece, while the noisy rhythm just doesn't
stop -- always reminding you of the noisy, chaotic reality which you are
trying to escape.
rettic ac
--
jumping into the sea, more of that dreamlike synth blends through the
"wash" and noise of the ocean. electronic browning noise loops, and we are
left with tweaking of this same noise to leap into . . .
tewe
--
. . . a harpsichord sample hit repeatedly, almost violently, with an
ominous, very subtle Celtic melody in the background. spooky synth work
and ae-trademark clicks (teeth clattering?) incessantly. a very cold,
insane piece that just doesn't let up, with a single rhythmed image
repeating over and over with gaining intensity until it decays into
rolling synths and bass clicks.
cichli
--
slightly more positive, this picks up in pace and tone, while retaining
a shade of Celtic melancholia. harsh beats (in 5/4?) introduce us to a sad
melody only hinted at in the background at first, then developed into
the core of the piece. more sad synth is brought in with some looped
gescomish babble-scratch noodlings.
hub
--
noise and beats with looped intensity hide what develops into a trek
through the sterotypical haunted house -- synthed violin, chimes, and
noise stab as you take each suspense-filled step through Bates' motel. i
expected rod serling to jump out of the closet at any moment. (i enjoyed
being manipulated by this song into thinking about horror movies.)
calbruc
--
a piece that reminds me instantly of the acid era of electronic music not
too long ago: harsh repetitive beats, soft moog chords that play second
fiddle to those same beats. what makes this different is that the beats
are slightly off, making it seem like the whole thing is going to fall
apart; until ae adds the missing piece, a unit of melody, at which point
the whole system locks together and we have the song -- beats drop out and
we are left with three ever-so slightly distorted piano notes.
recury
--
with a wonderful, happy beginning loop and a moving rhythm, the synths
again bring a slightly sad shade to the piece, asking: "reflect on what
you're listening to; why are you happy?" whooping, mad laughter loops here
and there, becoming embodied in the rhythm, alternating with dreamlike
synth chords -- this reminds me of the nervous calm euphoria of a drug
experience, like i'm almost on the edge of losing it in mad laughter at
the slightest provocation. suddenly, it ends and we are left washed in
white noise.
pule
--
noodling of steel drum chords predominate the body of this piece; triplets
of the same serve to move the piece along. little percussion (other than
the steel drums) to speak of here, violin stabs on the upbeats keep you
slightly on guard as to what's coming next, a flute roll to give it an
alien feeling. insect clicks at the end, with some chimes. (cicada,
anyone?) this is probably the only piece which does not fit with the
perceived theme of the album. (incidentally, it is my least favorite
track)
nuane
--
playful, noisy drums are offbeat again, with a very suspenseful, tense
melody that reminds me instantly of Bladerunner's opening -- a synthed
trumpet and piano play notes to match the beats. this song grabs your
attention immediately by the way that the beats seem off kilter with the
melody (keynell?) -- ae seems to make it work however. the best part is
yet to come, however, as halfway through the piece, the looped melody and
synth play through the beats, which decay out of the song -- all thats
left are two brooding synth chords, and machine-like chimes. suddenly, a
muted alarm-like chord jumps in, pulsing, eventually developing into the
melody introduced in the first half. more monotonal noise keys in,
changing tone and rising in intensity as the melody becomes a wonderful,
hypnotic keyboard solo; it eventually dominates the final two minutes of
the piece.
----
with _chiastic slide_, never before have I heard noise used so
dramatically and *perfectly* -- as if the intent was to use random noise
generators to enhance the blending of melody and rhythm, of which both
originate from noise. i sense earlier panasonic having influence on this
aspect of the album.
listen after listen, i am drawn into how dense the sound is, even
considering the subtle nature of nearly every song. there is always
something new that i hear each time around. information from "both"
channels: melody and percussion, are put together in subtle and wonderful
ways. it is not always obvious that both play equal roles in (almost) each
song, but the effort and genius are clearly present. after multiple
listens, it becomes clear that nearly each track captures the essence of
the _chiasm_ in _chiastic slide_.
if you haven't listened to ae before, i'd recommend that you start with
_tri repetae_, a much more accessible work than _chiastic slide_. for
other ae fans, this requires patience, but you are rewarded with
incredibly beautiful and hypnotic music. if you haven't already picked
this up, get out there and hunt it down.
coming soon: a review of envane -- thematically, much different from
chiastic slide. (i have immediate impressions of terre thaemlitz' earlier
ambient works whilst listening to envane, but more later . . . )
Alex P Reynolds
polygon@jhu.edu
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grant.h.horne