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The "stage" was Toronto's H5 project, a holographic gallery. (Would have loved to have been able to attend and view as well!) Using a specifically calculated layout, Scott McGregor Moore and Jamie Todd set up three minidisc players set to "shuffle" and "infinite loop" modes, so random patterns would emerge, creating what Scott describes as "a rare 'live' album recorded without the band actually being in the room." The liner notes detail the meticulous set up procedure and various bits of technical information.
While the piece is broken into 11 "tracks" (reflecting the shapeless, often water-influenced sections, with titles such as Wave Theory, Amorphous Amphibious and Adrift in the City), it is in fact one continuous piece and will be treated as such here.
Soft electronic washes phase in and out in an everchanging state of ebb and flow. Totally beatless and smooth, the lush chords swirl mistily, merging and remerging into different billowing configurations. Trickling water sounds run through several passages, as do occasional waves of rippling electro-distortion. Which environmental sounds are occuring "live" and which are pre-recorded is not always easy to discern, but "musique concrete" fills in the small details of this musical canvas. Chirping birds, crickets and a barking dog are heard as well as human voices, traffic sounds and a rumbling Harley-Davidson.
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