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Ampersand Etcetera – 2002_13
Ambient & microwave & electronica & experimental lowercase & postclassical & minimal & techno & etcetera
As promised, something of a home grown edition – Dorobo and Liquid Architecture from Melbourne, London's TwothousandAnd with an ex-pat sharing control.
But also some other things to leaven the mixture – eps from Moblin and Swire/Foundry, short album from Norway and the latest trio from Bip-Hop.
And on the way in the next two issues currently being formed – a couple of smaller labels with three from Orthlorng Muswork and five from Humbug; a 3" festival brought to us by Throat (4 disks), Fals.ch and Remanence; albums from Delayer, Marcelo Radulovich, the OrchestraMaxfieldParrish, Hollydrift's latest, Mou, lips! and more.
jeremy@pretentious.net
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http://ampersandetc.virtualave.net/ampersand.html
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Various Artists
Grain
Dorobo Limited Editions
http://werple.net.au/~dorobo
The latest from this cutting edge microsound/glitch Dorobo sublabel sees a track each from Philip Samartzis (his fourth DLE appearance), Pimmon, Darrin Verhagen and David Brown (who I haven't heard of before).
The longest and most complex piece opens the set – Samartzis' 'Microphonics' is an exciting musique concrete work. Crackling clicks build, soft musical tones join and a building drone with Psycho-chords in. The an electroacoustic clatter and bang, a punctuation of strange harsh string-ness that will recur as a marker throughout, together with a bong. A shifting sound work ensues, long whistling edged tones fade to deep rumble; then rebuilds with a scraping string noise; drippy splatter percussion over a sine wave; it shimmers and pulses with a string zing; fast percussion and a chant, building deep tone pulses; pulsing and a mouth harp; crowds; wavering record, the crowd; bells and ringing; the mouth hap with scrapes and pulses; a phone melody, pulsing. Then the activity condenses – a sustained high tone and voiced drone, gradually replaced by running-dripping water, spattering; a flute solo and ratatat percussion and the water noise returns; percussion and soft ringing, it starts layering complexly – a wild orchestration, distorted woman, punctuation and end. Dense and engrossing in its microsounds and changes, the movement carries you through as does the balance between textures and edges.
Following this extravagance we have a minimal work from Pimmon: 'Slegner forgets' recorded live in a food court in June, in which a deep rumble and light chiming tones softly and subtly shift through the length of the piece as clicks shimmer and hiss make forays across the surface. Balances change, the loops appear to be gently manipulated and the whole is a quiet meditation.
Using percussion played by Fontana, Verhagen has processed the parts into a developing layering of touches that is '_frame'. Starting as a soft shimmering pulse, soft chordal taps join with slow deep resonances and dancing tings in an abstract play, other sounds join, becoming more obviously percussive as the track progresses; the layering results in a complex and very atmospheric work.
David Brown's 'Voices of the air shaft' is a miniature opera. It opens with moans, banshees and high tones in a varying chorus that sounds like it could have been recorded in a shaft. It cracks, there is a bang and it simplifies before rebuilding with Theremin like tones and percussive stuttery elements, complexly adding orchestral swirls wild strings and voices into a strange and dramatic climax – an excitingly different 5 minutes
The combination of tracks makes for a dynamic experience – moving from the hyperactivity of 'Microphonics' through two quieter more restrained pieces and then 'Voices of the air shaft' as a very dramatic finale. The contrast is marked, and may be too divergent for some listenings, but the complexity of each work demands close attention rather than a casual approach, and is well worth the effort. Dorobo Limited Editions give the label a chance to present us with exciting and challenging music/sounds: probably not 'commercial' but a must for serious listeners.
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Anthony Guerra, Clive Lineham, Michael Rodgers: Neutral Density Trio
Anthony Guerra: [1]
We're Breaking Up: Love Distance Endless, Endless (2++2)
Noise Flamenco: London Boys (2++3)
Broken Hands: Berlin Airlift
TwoThousandAnd
http://www.twothousandand.com
Guerra and Rodgers started TwoThousandAnd (2++) 'to document an emerging community of musicians based in London' and we came to their attention through the reviews of fellow expatriate Joel Sterns' material in 2002_07 (which featured Guerra on a couple of albums). As with many small labels, a focus on the initiators is gradually expanding to include others in the circle, loosely centred on a weekly workshop run by Eddie Prevost.
Guerra is on guitar, Lineham keyboards and Rodgers bass in the improv trio that launched the label – nice black cds, hand spattered with paint drops. Three 'maps' were recorded on August 17 2001 – dense improvs where the guitars are hard to distinguish and it is mainly electronica and noise. 'Map 1' straddles the first three tracks (about 22 minutes) and soft pulsing electronica and click is joined by fast modulated guitar strum and single notes coalescing, a whooshing, echoed feedback light – unstable and delicate – bass and drone/deep rumble and scrape, light tones, guitar ringing – a sense of restrained menace – melodic, little computer bits, high tones, quieter, scrabbly guitar pickup and notes/edgy pulse, guitar and pickup noise, bass and electronica, fuzzy shaky, resonate, buzz takes over, lightness in, crackle tones emerge, picked notes over crackle warble wails, buzzy drone deep tones end. The next 'Map 2' (4, 5 & 6 – 28 minutes) is similarly varied – pulses crackles fuzz guitar feedback tones – shifting and turning. The third part softens, and there is a lovely tonal guitar (quite Fripp-ish) and picked that slips into a lighter tonal component in the second half of the track. Then 'Map 3', a 17 minute piece, opens with some gentle guitar and electronica that slips into crackles and woobles, high tones and guitar (shimmering at times) that ends almost as if the instruments had been finished with and allowed to vibrate and wind down for the last few minutes, left to relax after the playing. Obviously a densely packed album, getting quite noisey at times and both unsettled and unsettling, but with some lighter moments particularly in the latter parts. Not to be taken lightly, but an impressive debut for the label.
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Anthony Guerra's solo album explains some of the electronica of that album – the instruments are listed as 'guitar & electronics' but there are few 'guitar' sounds. Rather, the album is an exploration of minimalism using buzzes crackles and hums. For 41 minutes little sounds and para-sounds create microworlds. In the first track (all untitled) a pulsing hiss with click interrupts, a building buzz and a loose cable crackle build, fall away, replaced by rhythmic flutzes. A warmer swelling buzz and cycling scrape progresses slowly and intensely; backward tones and organ-ic burrs (notes!) is simple minimalism, becomes loose, echoed and resonant. A very soft indiustrial rumble, eventually long ringing resonant tones and a machine crumble over; it shudders and becomes a crackle rumble while the chimes and buzz continue. In 5 some guitar-notes appear behind the crackle, rumble and deeper pulse, looping parallels in a more active track as a buzz grows. Two elements to 6 – a tidal double pulse and shimmering behind, joined by a modulated ringing buzz (annoying at first but softens) and a high tone, with a lovely gentle fade. A feeling of the album softening, as long mellow tones form a strong aspect of 7 with more building humm-buzz and percussive crackle. The final track is the most musical, as soft crackle percussion is joined by more soft organ tones and then a passing building sine tone, fading away, leaving auditory aftertones of the whole. Definitely not a guitar-solo album, but a collection of intense and interesting glitch-crack tracks that precedes from the trio, but with more space and absorbing simplicity.
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We're Breaking Up is a solo album from Michael Rodgers, and is 30 odd minutes of pulsing tonal electronica. Four shorter tracks open it – the first a pulsing tone with fading echoes for less than a minute; then phone-like tones blipping, faster ones, high resonances, some foreshortened, and a Phillip Glass-like sound emerges, sticking in little loops; then rhthmic deep soft and slower ones join for the next piece, overtaken by a deep ventlike drone, an organ tone – the texture changes and the volume increases, a distorted pulse grows. Then a rising and falling cloud of white noise, with deep rumbles and tones submerged in it, the noise steps through levels to a big conclusion. After this enticing display of short playfullness, the fifth track is a twenty minute extravaganza. Ringing notes of different pitches form an overlapping melody, the notes lengthening, flatten and merge; a two note organ riff builds into a sustained organ drone with harmonics and overtones. This pulses and shimmers, a wonderful drone that changes shape and focus; high pulses and tones in, a swirling melody; becoming harsher with an undermusic, more high tones and repeats and softer melody. Pulses, wooshy tones, notes emerge; then in the last few minutes it pulses like a loose cable, buzzing, shaky. Hypnotic; a buzzy bee and crattle, pulsing, phone tones and puttputt crackle is the short last track. A very nice little album, well balanced.
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The cover of London Boys gives us an idea of what to expect – a photo of the two members – Takshiro Nishide and Romvald Wadych – larking around in a backgarden with saws, handwritten inserts with spelling errors and jokes (in the list of instruments is 'everyday objects, once a week objects'). The album continues the theme – material thrown together by the Noise Flamenco, using stringed instruments, wind instruments, vocalisations and things to create strings of noises and sounds. To be honest I found this annoying first time around, was going to give up, but tried again and found it a little more appealing – perhaps it could grow on me. It was very much a curate's egg. The first track was the most annoying, two guys fartarsing around mumbling 'lyrics' and scat (in both meanings) banging squeaking going nowhere. The next worst was 'George harrison' which wasn't too bad – guitar and white noise-works – until someone started to 'sing'. But luckily these are two shorter tracks. The other short track, 'Nagony ognia nagoya goya' actually works as squeezed trumpet and drone form a base for the title to form a chant. In the three longer tracks ('Sandi on the beach/Fish', 'Smoke on the water' and 'Moist flanelco' at 10-16 minutes) there is more space, playing around with what sounds like an accordion, trumpet, horn, various stringed instruments in different ways and a little bit of singing. Banging, turntabling and electronic squiggles are added. Overall they are much easier to take and give the album a more positive feel. Indicators of the Noise Flamenco direction are Reynols or Anna Planeta, although they are still finding their way there. A brave album for a young label to release, not for the faint-hearted, but there are enough good parts to the egg.
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The other current release is a complete contrast – Guerra and Rodgers on guitar recording 8 solos in one night, in a uniquely folded card sleeve with colour photos. The emphasis is on melody and calm, with pieces that draw you in to their apparent ease and simplicity and hold you with their artistry – probably the keys to the best improv. A brief warm up (numbered but unnamed) 'Georges river' with a rapid background of shimmering picks and carefully selected notes creating a melody over. As the album progresses, the restraint is relaxed: in 'Continental drift' there is some slide and loose stringing, a deep low section and a fuller sound. Then 'Withdrawal' faster and furious, verging on atonal progressions, active but under control. Slow strums and scrapey runs clicks and high short notes in 'Comeback' become softer and then more forceful as it builds. 'Ours and ours' is another lovely solo with simple support, while in 'Pavement like sky' two fast solos run in parallel, edgy and atonal, settling a bit but something of a duel. A sweet solo over tiny tinny plinckhammers in 'Punching holes' switches focus as the solo slips into a loop and the background foreground. Another nameless track, with mumbling in it, before another slow progression of strum with steel skitters builds and concludes with 'Capital cities'. A simple album of delightful pleasure – lovely duets that are skilfully underplayed.
2++ has a subscription series – for $75 you get 8 cds, including some specifically for the series. An innovative idea to help a small label keep going.
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Various Artists
Liquid Architecture 3
Liquid Architecture
http://www.liquidarchitecure3.com
Its funny how you can miss a musical event in your own city – especially when you live in a semirural 50km away town. Anyway, Liquid Architecture is a Festival of Sound Art which has hit its third running in Melbourne. But don't worry – while we either have missed it or can't be there, there is a catalogue with cd. There are 4 stimulating essays, some bios, aims and a directors' message, plus a programme of what we missed. 15 tracks on the cd cover just a few of the featured artists who were largely Melbourne and Sydney based.
The first, anonymous track, is a 3qm phone message asking 'what is sound art?' An excellent question that is answered in diversity. Nat Bates has a beaty unstable collage from soundtracks, breathing and laughter to jumping varied rhythm loops followed by an excerpt from an installation by Sonia Leber and David Chesworth that is a series of people talking to their pets – in training, control, friendship etc – which blurt out as people pass a spot in Canberra. The fragments are sequenced thematically, with different tones and emotion, but at times sound scripted – amusing though.
Briefly, a big guitar solo and electronic clatter from Peril; pulses of industrial white noise with squiggles, distant voices and occasional pig squeals from an installation by Jennifer Sochackyi; soft tapping and deeper tones emerge slowly in an improvisation by Anderson and Collings, coalescing as resonant guitar, percussion, sax, electronica in a mysterious and evocative swirling display. Tim Caitlin's 'Lonely dawn' (Freudian slip – typed lovely there, and it is - modulates high tones with a deep soft undertow, adding faster pulses into swallowed noises – a crunchy ringing and mike rubbing noises drift into febrile textured vent noises that purr to the end.
The biggest name, Porter Ricks, patters a knocky rhythm melody over a constant mechanical drone and static rumbles that builds and changes, merging beautifully into the 'Static/fan' that Bruce Mowson has recorded, offering an aural Rorscharch of whirr and rumbling deep pulse. Space and placement of sounds – noises, vibrabass, hollow scrape, shimmer, patter, high tones – provide a focus for Camilla Hannan's piece that shifts through the sound space. Delicate and haunting, glass-like tones and edgy twangs permeate Oren Ambarchi and Martin Ng's contribution.
'Indie' by Carl Priestly is perhaps the most orchestrated as a vocal tape loops, distantly reminiscent of Gavin Bryars surrounded by various percussions, tones and wooshes followed by an alternation between a birf flock and tones with a piano/drum percussion. Futzy layered tones run through the bubbling and lyrical 'Dark crystal' which Al Yamamoto interrupts with gun-percussion. A sonic assault of blipps, deep melody, scratching, zippyness of computer filters in 'Newbrain' by Seo. And finally 'Percussive' a groovy piece by Andie Reynolds that pings tings and whirrs, falls apart and then recovers for the finish.
So what is sound art? Just about whatever you want – soundtracks to installations, improvisations, complex pieces, found sounds. Whatever it is, this compilation presents an interesting slice of some of it from Melbourne and Sydney which, not surprisingly, sits well with sounds being produced around the world. Whether from Macedon or Macedonia and you can't get to the Festival, you can at least get the program and the cd.
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Ben Swire
Equilibrium
Foundry EP Series fou.17
http://www.foundrysite.com
The first in Foundry's ep series, designed to access both the focussed composition that the time limit of an ep requires, plus the reduced cost to the punter. And Swire has produced an very nice piece.
'Interim' opens with swelling tones that have a Foundry feel to them, adding a slow throb, ratchet-clicks and an undercurrent of voices. A slow stately melody wafts over the rhythm, with bursts of loose cable static-crackle, building through progression, drops and returns with a faster rhythm to the end. The layer of voiced hub-bub adds a dimension to the piece. There is more rhythmic development in 'Departure' as slow and faster rhythms are layered with long tones and a stuttering melody, quite lush – with little additions like tapping, running patter and voice tones – pulling back to the fade.
A spanish classical string tone seems to pervade the opening of 'Knot', with a slow drum and a fast D'n'B-ish complex fast tic-tush, and then more layers of rhythm, and then a woobly tone that gives it an almost western tone. Finally 'Score' is a darker piece, a breath-scrape, ratatat and accordion tones that are joined by a low synth and some taps. A slow melody and more are added as it grows before thinning back down to the fade, voice-tones supporting on the way.
Just over 17 minutes and its over – a short but enjoyable experience that fits well within the Foundry mood and indicates that this will be a series to follow.
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Moblin
I Live In Debasement
0000000
http://www.7o-label.com
The PR suggests that this wasn't done with the usual turntablist's equipment, and if he hasn't then Moblin (Chris Ragnar Bergen, of Philadelphia) has used the software available to recreate the cuts, jump, repeats and feel of a DJed album – 22 minutes of fun and pleasure.
Pulsing sirenish-turntable samples and chords speed up in the 'Bomb theft alert' thumping into 'Strider revision'. This is a groovy sample based loop, lounge style, slow and sinuous melody weaving under the varying beats. Guitar loops, simple drums and crackling over a whistling melody, more spacious, a brief break then the title-line 'We moving up like elevators' is presented word by word over a pulsey base, blooping finale. 'Kid ouch' starts fast pulsing emlodic, then orchestral choppy, playing with the rhythms, slows with an 'oh' repeat, then slower again into a sinuous end. Very chopped turntablist on 'The sun sets at casio' with some tuned percussion sort-of-soloing with short repeats, and scratchy underneath. The casio turns up again with some solos on 'My broken kitchen' together with distorted beats and sticking cds. Another one with vocals. 'Got to keep moving on' has a gentles stable start with long tones, slow beat and melody after which the rhythm starts to crack-up, sudden change to amore laid back, almost dubby part and the vocal stepped out falling into a poppy electro-clickcut conclusion. And finally 'Jimmy the lion' jump pulses rapidly, a 'yo' vocal tying it together, burred vocal loops, distorted beats; it then lightens with a more MoR-sample that jumps ringing and just fades away – an appropriate end as there are too many bangs throughout, and a sinking away works well.
A very exciting ride that holds together surprisingly well. Check it.
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Upland
Upland
Jester Trick022
http://www.jester-records.com
Norwegian Knut Rudd doesn't give much away on his album – a thick insert booklet is minimalist artwork – or his web site. Obviously these computer-based works are expected to speak for themselves.
'Flex' uses clicks, burrs, stutters and putts which swell and dance around the ear-space to create rhythm and melody: pop/clicks continue in 'twin gap' but the sounds are softer, with whips and metal shifting percussion, shimmers and increasing moody chords that drift into final tones there is a degree more warmth. Shuddering percussion and distorted string synths swirl and rattle in '-nd falling', then melodic delicate swelling long tones with ringing around them lap 'Root'.
High notes, rapid percussion and swirling voicey noises are some of the many layers in 'Block', swelling strange melody slurring at the centre, building and consolidating. The album has become more 'musical' as it continues, and 'Carrier down' features an organ melody with tidal tones and a deep throb, rapid percussion and cracklings create a fast, exciting and mysterious track. On the face of it, 'Marshgate' is a longish track, at 10 minutes (the others are between 3 and 5) and is a dramatic melding of choppy percussion, synth and organ with a breathing noise – but it ends at under 4 minutes. A few minutes later a 'secret' track emerges, a change of pace with big tones and slow beats, squiggles that seem to be voices and some emerge, and some Muslimgauze-like string samples – suggesting another direction that Upland could follow.
A short album – more of an EP at 32 minutes – but packed with interesting sounds very nicely constructed into fascinating and groovy music.
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Reciprocess 01: Komet +/Vs Bovine Life
Spaceheads: Low Pressure
Wang Inc: Risotto in 4/4
Bip-hop Bleep 10, 14 & 15
http://www.bip-hop.com
The reciprocess series is, as the name implies, a collaboration – doubly so as Bip-Hop have combined with Fallt (including on the design) and the series will feature interactions between the artists. The design emphasises this, in that the cover is symmetrical, and reads Komet/Bovine from one direction or Bovine/Komet from the other, the booklet similarly can sit either side of the central digidisk-plate and has to be read from both cover-to-cover. The content is a further development from Chris Dook's original web experiment Bovine Life (discussed in a volume 3 special edition) where he made small sound files available and then worked via file exchange with a variety of people – some results were on his earlier Bip-Hop album (as Bovine Life, Social Electrics - v2001_19) and this expands the relationship he struck with Komet it that process.

The set up is a bit unusual in that there seem to be collaborative/exchange pieces and solo works – which reflect the individuals general working methods . 'Riss' sees Frank Bretschneider (ie Komet) re-constuct Bovine Life into a bright buzz of building motor rhythms, simple melody and voice phonemes and breaths while Chris Dooks remix Komet's flex as 'Flux' suggests 'you have to be careful about what you say' with a tone and ear-to-ear click/pops, tongs and puts that stretch to a burr; an edgy tone and beat take over and then the first sounds return with a lovely deep euphonium tone.
Komet then gets four tracks – 'Chrom' & 'Kom' & 'Ohm' flow into each other as the names suggest starting as soft spacious skitterings, delicate pops and slashes, tones, gradually increase in speed; vocies strings and cymbal added, develops a groove and then becomes staticy and dubby; into a variable pulse with little noises jittering across, a strong rhythm, more stable, with a big base. A different approach in 'Sog' which is fast active and visceral, throbbing with lots of little events.
Another exchange – BL v K '(the question)' is delicate and captivating as a deep pulse has gentle clicks ticks pings and burrs, pops and burbles varied over its surface. Then K v BL '(the reply)' has similar events and feel but with more echo and a growing beat around a deeper pulse. The '(second question)' is BL v K and high pulses, scratchy noises and echoey sonar create a sound space for distorted and chopped vocals and computer melodies, to which K v BL '(the conclusion)' is a dirty spiral of choppy and sped voices, a strange rejoinder to the question. (These were the tracks available from the web).
Bovine Life ends the album with 7 short pieces: fast and bubbly swirling and choppy voices in 'Vone'; 'Platuex' big beat and soft pulses, tinkles and swirls over; a scratchy wash with pop loops runs through 'Kaibilder'; twangy crackly melody in '60 minutes strictly I' has chopped music and voice samples over while in part 'II' a spooky scrapy voice plys through loop fragments and swirling samples. 'Sony' loops a sequence of ringing tone/pulse/zup and adds echoes and colour and finally soft backward tones create a melody in 'Behind' together with ringing and other tones that conclude the album with a warm ambience.
I am more familiar with Chris Dooks' work than of Frank Bretschneider's, only having one Komet release, so it is hard to tell how much each influenced each other for the 'solo' tracks or the impact the remixes had. The end result, a mixture of the purer click/pop from Komet with the Bovine accretion/manipulation leads to an album of varied textures and directions that integrates Bip-Hops sensuality with the sometimes more austere Fallt aesthetic. The ongoing series should provide a wealth of pleasure.
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Spaceheads do something a bit different, not only in regards to Bip-Hop but also more generally: they are a trumpet (Andy Diagram) and percussion (Richard Harrison) duo (with some computer tweaks and a couple of guests thrown in). The closest I have heard is the Martin Dx album (see 2001_10) or various people who sample the likes of Miles Davis.
Long trumpet tones open 'Low pressure' with layered blippy rhythms and varied drums; the tones lengthen and shimmer, slightly processed and a mute solo plays over, and later a dirty one: a lovely groove ensues. This interplay of the trumpet and various rhythms works throughout the album – 'The lugano affair' builds a rhythm that burrs a little, solo and tones from the trumpet, a rubbery bass guitar that chops along with some Theremin-ish sounds. Slightly slower in 'Astro temple' with unstable percussion, trumpet, tone swirls and hand drums, a drop out in the midlle with an echoey solo that develops into a cloud of horn notes, finally long tones and computer bubbles.
'Fog' is a beautiful track – tinkly percussion and shakers, some tweaked trumpet and a restrained hymnal solo; little shimmer sirens and deep tones build behind but maintain the mood, spacious and building to a fine climax. In 'The hut' a blowy trumpet sounds like a didgeridoo over the long tones and rhythm, moving to long brass, becoming choppy and easing to a trumpet loop. The album closes with a lovely pairing: 'Red shift' is a long piece, slowly building, evocative and restrained, sounding as if it has been slowed down, rumbling and scratchy. In the last few minutes it seems to cohere, building speed and flowing into 'Over the moon' another luscious layered groove that bookcases the opener.
There are three remixes across the album – two by Harrison and Mick Rutledge: 'On a clear day' emphasises the rhythmic elements, chopping the trumpet into fragments, wild and furious. A crackle switching from ear to ear and a bassy loop in 'Pressure point', pulsing keyboards under the trumpet, strange twangs come to the fore, sliding and working the groove of its original – the title track. And Graham Massey creates 'Storm force 8' again working the rhythms, adding voiced aahahhas, fast loops and wooshes, percussive fast trills from the trumpet and a distorted trumpet behind.
It’s a strange paradox – you follow a different line, and people still see weaknesses (I would have liked to see a few more slower or spacious numbers, and wouldn't have put the first remix as second track), tbut not much is perfect. Beyond quibbles, this is a fabulous release, taking Bip-Hop into new areas and providing a really enjoyable listening – groovy fun and dramatic.
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Wang Inc cook-up a lighthearted melodic techno meal for the risotto – their aim seems to be to create enjoyable music – fairly short duration, there are 15 tracks, developing layers of sound, usually with a break in the middle before rebuilding or returning.
You have to admire a band that starts with an homage to Kraftwerk – a big call – with the rhythms and old-style sounds in 'Clear a space for the king' with a casio-melody line and developing some modern fast beats, and then following with a messed up beer-barrel polka 'Transylvanian spy' that lays chopped accordion as rhythm loops and melody lines. The album progresses with nods to roots, fun-loving excursions, beats and pleasures. Some highlights &/or pointers (15 tracks of techno is hard to describe): accordion again in a quirky tonal ambience 'the robot with the accordion'; a vocoder chorus in 'Voice of your sponsor'; the house piano at the end of 'Sprinkling time' which is reflected in the two note piano loops that ground the standout track, 'Lonely stars', which is slow, has some Theremin-sounds, adds piano runs and varies very nicely; the cheesy and jolly 'Frenetic tuner' with all sorts of rhythms, background wails and a scimitar melody; old style single note wavering synths make 'Sonic killer' a moody piece with long tones over; the eponymous 'Frogs betting' also featuring deep tone and woobly pond melodies; and the concluding 'Say.do.kiss' is a nicely building finale – a harmonica voice, a slow beat, click scratch, growing chord tones.
Ok – not a ground breaking album, but one where the approach and tone taken makes it easy to listen and relax to, with nice gear changes.
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And of course, all past issues, with hundreds of reviews, on site.
Copyright for these reviews remains with me, Jeremy Keens. Artists and labels are free to use and quote them as long as they acknowledge Ampersand and don’t mess with my words! And if anyone else happens to mention one of these reviews, do pass on the web address or my email address so new readers can find me. Thanks.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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