Time flies whether you're having fun or not... it's already October and I unfortunately have only a few appropriately "dark" recordings on hand to add the seasonal Hallowe'en flavor (those discs are denoted by the scary   symbol). Plus the usual miscellaneous tricks and treats. The Girl Pool: The Girl Pool   (The Girl Pool - 1999) (7.8) With all the '80s'-era ghosts lurking within, this eight-song Gothpop sampling could almost get the hallowe'eny   symbol. A thin mix of pulsing bass, spookshow synth and faint surfpunk guitar, catchy Death Disco is topped with nasal-though-effective vocalizations and stronger "ohhhs" beneath. Sweeter paradise a.m. drifts upon the now-retro sound of New Wave synths. Other tracks like electra and godiva mine similar territories, earnestness making up for lack of differentation. Unfolding with with drones and drums, veil (6:50) continues into the ethereal-rock mode, soft guitar meanderings share the stage with pallid vocals. The closing strains of space angel (4:08) seem to put a Goth spin on a 1950's era bobby sox number. I can't shake the feeling that the seven songs were recorded from some night-haunt back in a day when the Cure were just learning to apply mascara... not that this is a bad sort of pseudo-nostalgia. Check out the The Girl Pool site. Homogenized Terrestrials: Sound Pores   (6 on the Dot - 1999) (8.2) Phil Klampe has created many surreal soundspaces in which you may wander. (Samples are available from the MP3.com site and more info is at the Homogenized Terrestrials web headquarters. Rhythmic strums and the loose clatter of ceramics (and metallics) seep into spacious, 14.5-minute long Skin Corruption; occasional tonal strands emerge from the quietly enigmatic flow, as do faint, echoey clangs and small patches of various electronic textures. Similar materials are (slightly) more actively arranged in Triggers, ruffling, rippling, phasing in and out. The track features more bleepy squidgies though, taking the piece in a totally different direction, but then veering in another with light belltones ringing hauntingly over a thrumming rhythm. Dense soundstreams flutter and drone, fading in and out of the Sounds of a Mind (3:22). Spooky weirdness hovers in the airwaves of longform exploration Dissecting the Magician's Hands (30:31). Clunky patterns form over subdued radiation which evolves into muted electronic buzziness and wafting gray ephemera, sometimes laced with shimmers. These things come and go as my attention does. Eventually grittier waves of static then spacey warbles intrude, getting louder and louder then vanishing. Instruction Shuttle: Experimental   (Astromass - 1998) (8.0) Self-described "techno-hermit" Todd Christopher spends his days dabbling in sound. This early effort appears to be his first do-it-yourself Experimental excursions into not-easily-definable realms of sonic mutations (it's not "techno" though). Obscured by industrial-strength hiss and haze, acidblackskull (12:46) rhythmically pulsates, emitting warm-though-grungy tones, venturing into softer zones before fading into a prolonged silence. Seismic ruffles regularly blurt from the gritty murk of fold-folio; eventually the mists part a bit to reveal a softer, almost orchestral core. The hazily mechanical percussion of glassy (3:51) is overwritten by distorted harmonica scrawls and echoey occurences. Spoken word is stretched and/or compressed into incomprehensible mutations as marmuss saken rotates slowly through a surreal space of sci-fi effects. Hints of of a former life emerge from suite as ghosts of jazziness are sometimes heard through the evershifting clouds, before switching to soundstream mode. My main observation here would be the fact that Instruction Shuttle's soundworlds exist in an unpedictable miasma of music so heavily slurred as to be unfathomable, and thus understood only on its own undefined terms. Instruction Shuttle: Russian Real Estate   (Astromass - 2000) (8.2) Newer material from Instruction Shuttle (see above) shows a bit more clarity, though he still prefers to work within a haze of hyper-processed sounds. Sometimes laced with blips and warbles, dense drone strata fluctuates and churns as drone bone opens the disc, revealing underlying brass samples at its end. A softly surging chaos of electron haze and mechanical tones, leftcoast (1:34) soon fades into nothingness. Random clatter infests the serpentine rise and fall of a relatively vast region (10:30) of (mostly) unidentifiable hums, squeaks, faint beats and extended strands of slurred, layered noise. The title track flutters in a lighter haze, shuffling foggily into a final electronic buzz. Exuding more machine-like resonance, grassland features an echoey underwater accompaniment which hypnotizes pleasantly. The dreamy wash of same as it ever was floats in a lovely murk from which deep mutant voices are barely heard. It's all like an audio version of those smeary abstract paintings that you can appreciate for their unnnatural textures and colors, but wonder if anyone really "gets".   raison d'être: in Sadness, silence and solitude   (Cold Meat Industry - 1997) (8.7) Subtle, entrancing grayness from a master of such sounds... as the title sugests, the music here is not so much scary as melancholic... beautifully so. The monastic tones of Reflecting in Shadows are sometimes submerged in swirling murk or reverberating percussion. A filmic gray panorama of synthchorus is punctuated by acoustic percussion In Abscence of Light (5:04). Underscored by thin winds, drifting orchestral gloom is pulled from the Well of Sadness, while Deep Enshrouded is buried in a streaming industrial haze. Droning haze is sporadically spattered with cymbals as Passing Inner Shield (13:25) evolves into something glimmering with lightness. Eventually a dark-folk musical presence erupts, emitting medieval vibes, before fading into an obscuring mist from which a final angelic choir calls. Peter Andersson has his own website which documents his many dark sonic activities under various guises.   raison d'être: Reflections from the time of opening   (Bloodless Creations - 1997) (8.3) A collection of 13 early and/or unreleased tracks from the macabre world of Peter Andersson; these formative pieces don't yet display the subtler earmarks of his later works, though certainly demonstrate a predilection for soundscenes of cinematic gloom. The operatic synth choruses, stringdrones and drums of Auto-dafé bring the chill of Scandinavian midnights into your own home. Watery currents, brassy swells and timpani drums flow through Archetypon Ataraxia, which proceeds into a medieval organ dirge. The edgy orchestration of Faceless carry paranoia, while the chaotic warbling notes of The External World bring something more akin to motion sickess. Deep and dark, Metamorphe (1:47) only briefly lingers in the shadows before the spiraling strings ofGwynn-ap-nudd begin their slow, entrancing dance. The old xlyo-bones clatter and reverb through Hell is Trembling, and the Gates of Death, joined by a string section and almost-dancey rhythms. Other tracks feature somber piano, unidentifiable textures, tribal beats, hypnotic electronics, misty reverberations and other horrorfilm-ready sonics.   Lull: Dreamt About Dreaming   (Sentrax - 1992) (8.3) Yet another ominous soundworld from Mick Harris's Lull project... Disorientingly dreamlike, the tones of Stream Endless (11:49) stretch elastically through a misty void of indefinite murk. It's Time for a warmer sort of darkness, where faraway rhythms pulse over a rippling stormfront. Scientific banter about paralysis and terror emerge from the dense, undulating mechanical/organic goo which surges from Open Closed Apart. Eyes Through Walls's murmered "I'm going to Hell" sample is rather overused... Murky percussive clatter oozes from Beating Within. The title track swelters amongst weird riffles, dense atonal strings, muffled blasts and repetitious spoken samples. The disc closes with Stream Endless Part 2 (1:19), a final misty traipse through off-key chimes. All in all, one hour of shadowy surreality which can turn anyday into a nightmare... (and I mean that in a good way, of course!) stilluppsteypa: not a laughing matter, but rather a matter of laughs e.p.   (FIRE, inc. - 2000) (8.3) The newest e.p. from enigmatic Icelandic experimentalists contains four untitled tracks (equalling 23.5 minutes) and very little info (though the FIRE, inc. website reveals a bit more... "Special guests are Andy Diagram ofSpaceheads on trumpet and the japanese female pop singer Hanayo." A cloud of lightly squealing feedback tones billows and drifts all around 1, then sharply breaks and fades to reveal whispery female counting. Brassy tones spurt and drone from the hissy, drifting core of 2 (4:16), to be joined by staticy rhythmics then fading to a wavering whalesong expanse. Barely audible subfrequencies extend through the first six minutes of 3 (8:42); that thin-though-murky fog slowly grows in strength and eventually encounters some bleepy cross-tones which fade and return. Low frequencies at low volumes also course through 4, a deliciously isolating space which still seems to be thrumming in your skull after the track has ended. Manufactured and distributed by Staalplaat. Ulver: Metamorphosis   (Jester Records - 2000) (8.5) Apparently trying to shake a black metal past, the members of Ulver are redeveloping themselves into something more electronic, experimental and unpredictable. Opening on an electrically-charged beatfest, Of Wolves & Vibrancy is indeed biting and energetic as rapid-fire e-drumming and grungy synth squawks top choral ahhs. With a more deliberate pace, Gnosis struts in breakbeat rhythms down an alleyway lined with digital litter; after five minutes, the track takes an unexpected turn as acoustic guitar and a soft vocal duet (singing words from Rimbaud's Bad Blood) join, then raise the intensity. From its twisted piano-and-drum intro, Limbo Central works the juxtaposition of mellower background sounds with various raucous instrumental outbursts, most notably the aggressive staccato grunge blasts. Of Wolves and Withdrawal (8:55) recedes to a much quieter space of oozing shapelessness where cyclic electron drones and pops emerge; the latter minutes are beseiged by billowy slow-motion explosions which roll away into dust. Distributed out of Norway by Voices of Wonder. Posted October 29, 2000 | 1999/2000 Overviews Index

AmbiEntrance © 2000-1997 by David J Opdyke (except CD cover art, rights retained by original owners).