various artists: absolute zero

va-az.jpg (8k) various artists: absolute zero
(Charrm - 2000)

As the experimental dance creator of KARAS, Saburo Teshigawara continually seeks to find hidden new sources for inspiration outside the established. Here he's enlisted various artists to convey their impressions of absolute zero, a state of entropy. Or as Teshigawara says, "the nothingness of immobility is an extraordinary energy with minus quality that functions dynamically".

On spacious mechanical emissions, biosphere's "superfluid" drones quietly into existence; faint radio voices seem to be heard deep within the barely wavering soundstream. The phantom electronic crickets of "sifr" (10:53) are periodically overtaken by a recurring rippling prescence courtesy of zoviet france. Denser reverberations of unknown origin seep in, with drippy accompaniments and rhythmic pulsations. monolake evokes "frost" with electrotribal drumbeats pounding into a hollow void of resonance.

As if hovering inside some machine-like entity, hallucinator's "messenger" delivers faintly throbbing tapestries of slightly glitchy microsonics. Brief, like its poetic namesake, "a.haiku 0" (0:59) explores the silence between jiri ceiver minimalistic noises. A wash of static fades to reveal disinformation's interpretation of "absolute zero", defined by

hazard's idea of "still" involves very quiet layers of sizzling molecules; turn up the volume and they're there, percolating away in a vague bio-electric fusion which grows stronger with time. gescom takes the nearly-nothingness concept even further with "around absolute zero; almost imperceptible ruffles sporadically appear with spacious voids between occurences.

While most folks might find these obscurities difficult to "dance" to, Teshigawara's vision of stillness amid chaos is certainly represented in various guises which lean more to one way or the other. Top-tier explorationists produce their own versions of absolute zero in this 8.3 thematic comp.

E-mail zf@charrm.org for purchase info.

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This review posted March 28, 2001

AmbiEntrance © 2001-1997 by David J Opdyke (except CD cover art, rights retained by original owners).