Welcome once again to the AmbiEntrance Overview containment center; Overviews are smaller, self-contained review nuggets of older releases, slightly off-topic genres, first timers/self-releases and other various miscellany. 46bliss: pistachio h o m e   (Regular Records - 1999) (8.2) Disclaimer: electronic pop here. That said, Clare Veniot, David Cooper and Jack Freudenheim weave an especially sweet brand of lush, eclectic, thoughtful e-pop, with harmonious vocals threaded throughout. Personally none are as contagious as the exotically layered strands of O Mayday which has been stuck in my head for days now. Exuberant tracks like Freedom Run, Boy Behind the Veil and Lay Down (Candle in the Rain) stand out for filling the creativity, talent and spirit missing in all too many mainstream songs. The Beatles cover (Across the Universe) is interesting, though spritely-TV-commercial-ready Anything is perhaps too sweet, and a few other selections fail to rise above. Not entirely un-ambient, Bardo Takes Time presents an all-too-brief venture into softly droning territories, and the opening/backdrop of Canton wanders through a most lovely murk. My advice is to check out the 46bliss website to judge for yourself. (My verdict is an appreciative 8.2-rating; these warm and inspired gems have reminded me that just because it's "pop" doesn't automatically mean it's not worth listening to.) Paul Adams: The Property of Water   (Lakefront Productions - 1998) (7.8) If you're a fan of water (and of spacious new-age ambiance), it's safe to dive in. Five tracks (60 minutes) of Paul Adams' soothing instrumental/electronic self-productions are backed by various phases of rippling liquidity and other waterborne sounds of weather and bird life. Beginning with An Opening Flow (5:32), aqueous currents meet with steely strings, warm finger pluckings and shimmering synthesizer streams. Adorned with accentual bells, dewy synth drifts and electrosymphonics flow through the atmospheres Of Passion and Peace, while a gentle rainstorm patters all around. Resonant belltones (and watery trickles) spread along the sweetly droning soundwaves of The Serene Dance of Thunder (27:33); birdy chirps, meandering guitar notes, kaleidoscopic electronic patterns, and of course, thunder/rain sounds further decorate this peacefully developing expanse of free-form fusion. Around the 13.5-minute mark, the music departs, leaving the listener to bask in nature's shower for the track's duration. I got to see Paul perform live in his hometown when he opened up for Vir Unis' Peoria Planetarium gig. Not only is Adams a multi-instrumentalist, he builds a variety of musical equipment, including dulcimers and basses which can be seen at his webite, where you can also find more info on his several CD releases. Amoeba: watchful   (Release) (8.4) We've all enjoyed basking in Robert Rich's trances, drones and microtonal tunings, but for those who've not been exposed to his lead vocal instrument... Release has re-released this out-of-print 1997 Amoeba side project, a collaboration with longtime guitarist/bassist friend Rick Davies. Indeed Rich's voice is practically ambient... a softly pensive whisper which blends right into the slight, melancholy guitar sounds (along with synth, bass and a few other contributions (cello, drum, sax, voice) from other friends). Footless merges female voice and silken cello strains amidst mutedly reverberating feedback. A slow-motion-running-underwater-pace adds to the dream-like state of Ignoring Gravity (7:21). Instrumental Water Vapor (2:12) emits sustained guitar tweaks (few and far between) within a humming void with shifting peripheral activity. A low key, lovely islandic charm infuses Saragossa with a more-buoyant lilt of flutes, bamboo-and-skin drumming and other ethnic touches. Even the more-active musicality and piano notes of Any Other Sky seems rooted in the vaporous ethereality which is especially notable in the spaciously presented instrumental closer, Watchful Eyes. With all the soft murkiness, it'd be hard to peg this "pop"... I suppose file it under "ethereal rock" if you must niche it, probably a pointless task anyway. It's intriguingly different... More info can be found at Mr. Rich's own Amoeba website... Johnny Pinkhouse presents Bad Acetate   (Soleilmoon - 1999) (8.1) Can't hardly call this one ambient, but it certainly qualifies for one of the most unusual recordings I've encountered! 45 short (0:09 to 2:57), nameless tracks gather spoken snippets from high-spirited men, women and children of yesteryear (1949 -1999, though nothing sounds that recent!); lots of jokes, stories, songs, impromptu prattle and general quaint (sometimes mildly risque) merriment are captured by humming equipment on scratchy old recordings... (included are a few wordless pieces with nothing but scratches)... besides those age-revealing glitches, occasional skips, stuck needles and speed-ups occur). Nostalgic audio-voyeurs will likely gain the most from these voices of America's not-so-distant past. I'm old enough to get most of the references and recognize many of the children's poems and songs...I doubt that today's Barney/Teletubby/Pokemon characters (or their young watchers, of course) are still doing "Sing a Song of Six Pence"... Muslimgauze: Sufiq cdep   (Soleilmoon - 2000) (8.9) This 25-minute ep is the first Muslimgauze release to be scheduled after his untimely passing last January. Recorded in November 1997, tracks like How Rustem, the Theif, Moves Through Fire (5:06) and The Girl Who Sleeps With Persian Tulips lean toward his more-musical style (and away from his more-electronic/experimentational side) delivering rapturously clattering ethnobeats and Arabic woodwind/string effects sparingly mixed with thrumming electronics, dub-style basslines and odd cut-outs. Rapid fire beats, reedy warblings and buzzing electrocurrents are processed through Egyptian Sand Siffter, and Jackal the Invizibl loops hypnotically with whispery rhythms underneath wafting flutations. For fans, it's more of a great thing. For newcomers, I can't imagine a more painless introductory point. At the request of Bryn Jones' family, royalties from this $6.99 bargain are being donated to charity. Nocturnal Emissions: Autonomia   (Soleilmoon - 1996) (8.2) Nigel Ayers (with the help of one Peclo Renwash) does the Scanner thing, mixing intercepted phone conversations with moody atmospherics and other, more-musical, electrobeaty interludes in seven tracks (ranging from 5.5 to 11.5 minutes). Toyota's opening conversation between two, well... frankly, pathetic, "lovers" sets the stage for several other human dramas to unfold. I don't know what neighborhood these scans were taken in, but they've managed to dig up characters from a couple levels beneath "lowlife"... yeesh! After the brief (literal) toilet-talk intro to Load I, hazily floating layers of chant, drone and flute warbles are periodically rapped upon by semi-tribal percussion. With high-speed oscillating notes eventually peppered with beats, Load II is the only talk-free zone. The gals in these parts aren't much better than the men, as evidenced by the hoodlum-girl-talk in Investigators (followed by a semi-jungly drum, bass and electronics fest) and Interstate (with its funkier accompaniment). Read more about this release, as well as Nigel's newest (Futurist Antiquarianism), and more in this month's exclusive AmbiEntrance Nocturnal Emissions interview. Spiritual Bats: Sacrament   (Alchemisti Music - 1999) (7.6) Not ambient, no... but an 18-minute EP of energetically brooding Italian Gothic rock. Dario Passamonti and Matteo Bracaglia lead their compatriot gloom rockers (Rosetta, Vanessa H. and Loren) through five tracks like Sacrament, Lost Souls and Ritual. Appropriately somber vocals, churning guitar, keening keyboards are backed by femme-powered drum and bass. Though a new release, these dark gems glimmer with a distinctly old-school sound and a raw energy which can only come from love of the genre. Definitely worth checking out though, if you're in that mood... therefore: Khrom   (inlet Recordings - 1999) (8.0) Do-it-yourself noise artists therefore have recently released a disc full of audiochaotics known as Krom; named only by number, the dozen tracks earnestly explore various forms of noise as we know it, and some ways in which perhaps we didn't know it, but now do... and maybe one or two ways which we're not so sure if we wanted to know... like in 02 for instance, where spastically strummed electric guitar meets violently pounded piano keys (which are in turn drastically mutated) meets hyperscritchy unknowable sound sources meets clangorous pots-and-pans style percussion chaos. I prefer the more artfully-arranged noise (the stuff that doesn't sound so much like drunkenly overactive monkeys with instruments), like in the next track . Turbulent blasts of feedback and glitchy rhythmics surge through 03 which breaks down then seems to rev with some sort of motor-generated interference. Noise epic of the bunch, 04 (11:58) faces off assorted raucous grumbles with explosively distorted frequencies with brief bits of silence between. Other tracks incorporate dissonance from old pianos (and maybe a metronome and a chainsaw), as in 06 (1:22); clattering cymbals in 07, guitar and violin contortions in 10, trumpets and thudding in 11 and from various forms of electronic abrasions and many quite unidentifiable sources throughout. Noise fans are sure to find something in here to like as a wide spectrum of electronic aural assualts are covered. Michael Kaufmann can tell you more if you e-mail him at inletrecordings@yahoo.com, or hear therefore for yourself at www.mp3it.com. Various Artists: Distention   (AlterCulture - 1999) (8.3) This sampler showcases two-to-four tracks from five of the dark electronicians residing in the dank stable of AlterCulture. Slightly different approaches to Electronic Industrial Rock yield interesting results... Mindless Faith presents four pieces of dancefloor-ready slabs of rivet-shaking energy and angst, beginning with "Rat Race". "Strained" though, is a particularly restrained electroGoth ballad, abutted with the more-energetic romp through "All These Years". Raudive Voices mine a more "modern" vein, where keyboard riffs are infused with manipulated voices, whispers and assorted digital distortions. Tendencies toward NIN-wannabeism appear in "Dessau" but the imitation is flatteringly done. My favorite tracks occur upon entering the vocal-free zone of two deeply droning, industrial-strength excursions from Gears Slowly Grinding; hisses and thumps are blanketed with sweltering lows and semi-orchestral waves in "Induce", and in "Delusion", monstrous entities seem to crawl behind the walls of a haunted piano chamber while low, surging electronics and beats surround. Similarly, The Unquiet Void's three contributions enter regions of swirling darkness backed by beats... "Breathing Liquid Breath" mixes unobtrusive lyrics into the murky syncopation. Powerful and dense, "The Cube of Bondage" is laced with unknown sweeps and swooshes whereas "A Constant Looming Uncertainty" radiates with subterranean chaos and a sci-fi/horror sense of grandeur. Two closing pieces by Vivid Liquid ("The Tear and "Neuronaut") enter more-straightforwardly-electronic soundworlds; sludgy beats pound behind rippling waves of synthesized melancholia in the former... the latter interweaves grit-laden keyboard strands and spastic interjections into a moodily burning structure. All in all, an impressive sampling from these Various Artists; those who are already into these morbid genres should find kindred spirits within, and those who aren't can use this almost-one-hour disc as a testing ground. Posted March 29, 2000 | 1999/2000 Overviews Index

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