AmbiEntrance Overviews are smaller, self-contained review nuggets of older releases and various miscellany. You'll find 53 Pre-1999 Overviews preserved in the AmbiEntrance Archive. Biosphere: Insomnia Soundrack   (Origo Sound - 1997) (8.2) I can't tell you anything about the film (except that it's subtitled "No Peace for the Wicked"), but the soundtrack is by Geir Jenssen, known and loved as Biosphere, so you have to expect good things. 17 pieces from 1:16 to 5:41 in length make for moody little interludes which seem to reflect a dark, sleepless night and the paranoic frustration which results from sleep deprivation. Symphonic touches add to the "movie" feel which will imbed itself in the darkened cinema of your mind. A standout is Quay with its deep, deep swells and scattered percussive effects. The closers, Tunnel and Insomnia (Alanïa Mix) are brighter, with light electrobeats and wordless female crooning. Richard Bone: Metaphysic Mambo   (Quirkworks Laboratory - 1996) (7.1) A precursor to Electropica but not as strong. A cool bossa nova vibe is injected into (occasionally somewhat antiseptic) synth muzak. It's Quite Romantic gets a dose of darkness beneath it's repeated main sample. And speaking of samples... that, and other several tunes (Stardate: continue, Lights Off, Bill, History of the Earth) tend to replay the same sample... again and again and there it is again, which really bugs me, man. Those three tracks also take a cool detour through retro-space rather than the electro-tropics. Learn more at this Richard Bone website. electric bird noise: unleashing the inner robot   (artfag - 1998) (8.5) The first blast of guitar noise and frantic beatbox thumps will clue you in to the fact that unleashing the inner robot is not exactly ambient listening material (though the moody electric twang of lazy tumbleweeds comes close in its own western way); Electric Bird Noise have assembled an exciting collection of avant garde constructions of guitar, synth, processing and beats, ranging from raucous (the opener, number four), to serene (the hum of the moon), to both (japanese toy song), or, more often, something happily in between (holdin back the tears). cloudless sulfur and number three are my personal favorites; each track develops its own natural highpoint at which it simply overflows with the vibe of guys obviously having fun creating great sounds. A quick visit to the electric bird noise homepage will give you some samples to hear... and if you're ready to blow some of that ambient pixie dust out of your ears :), I recommend that you do. Richard H. Kirk: Virtual State   (Wax Trax/TVT - 1994) (7.3) The 10 tracks (from 6- to 12-minutes-long) of Virtual State tend toward a sort of Electro-Tribal-Trance blend... Often quite bleepy, with trilling keyboard riffs over synth drifts; jungley drums and ceremonial chants meld with robotic choruses. The chaotic November X Ray Mexico has a repetitive shrill phone-like bleep and warped radio voices. For my money, the smoother tracks (like Come, which nicely merges all styles) work better. Even the beatiest track isn't overly aggressive, and conversely, the beatless Clandestine Transmission is a rather soft and quiet percolation. A very good listen for most any cyber-shaman. Scorn: Logghi Barogghi   (Earache - 1996) (8.7) If I were going to sum up Logghi Barogghi in one word, it'd have to be "beaty, beaty, beaty!". Mick Harris' project Scorn is sort of an antithesis of his beatless Lull. 71 minutes of assorted percussion devices, percussion styles and percussion moods, with electronic background embellishments, ranging from slight hums to grating buzzes (and the occasional torturously distorted human wail). Most tracks are generally paced at a moderate, drummy groove, though the rhythm of The Next Days is almost slow. The purpose of the title track seems to be to destroy the notion that the "title track" is somehow supposed to be something "more"; Logghi Barogghi - the song - is a 57-second distorted-cymbal-patter-fest with a final sing-song vocal. All in all, very cool, but probably not for everyone... and definitely not for a headache reliever. shri: shri   (Secular Hypnosis - 1998) (6.3) shri is Kevin Kutzko of Ontario, Canada, and he's part of an all-around cyber-art commune known as Secular Hypnosis, where music, art, and photography are explored in various altered states by Kevin and friends. While the opening track of this independently-released 32-5-minute-long CD-R involves a few too many difficult-listening exercises, but other tracks (I wasn't given names) are more listenable... like the semi-musical drone/organ duet of the second piece, or the quieter mechani-drone of the third. Track 4 actually morphs from minimalistic electronics into a state of soft, musical resonance. For all its tinny, electronic choppiness, the closing track is quite interestingly arranged (and re-arranged... and re-re-rearranged...). A DIY effort which shows potential... Posted March 25, 1999 | 1999 Overviews Index

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