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 | Doug Wyatt:Accidental Beauties (Sonosphere - 1998) When you throw so many things into the mix, sometimes you just end up with a big mess. Doug Wyatt though has avoided that in the first release from his fledgling Sonosphere label, Accidental Beauties. Accidental, no. Beauties, definitely. |
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For a first release, the disc shows especially high levels of technical competence and natural talent. Wyatt has been an electronic music insider (as a programmer of synth software) and here demonstrates his adeptness at programming soundwaves, with a little help from friends and family.
After brief (:22) intro, the almost jazz-funky Invisible People muscles its way in. Though the track is well put together, the prog-rock keyboards and obviously synthetic beats are a bit overt to my ears. Fortunately, things aren't so bombastic after this point, though never dull. The title track (Accidental Beauties, of course) features animated keyboards trilling over a lushly mixed backdrop of bass, bells and sonic haze. Guitar notes slowly meander amongst agitated clatterings and gentle surf-like washes in Acadia. Reverb-drenched chords are overcome by a dense and urgent presence in the 1:45 piece, Undercurrents. Various pianos and steely string instruments mingle in a somehow off-kilter style to open Bricolage, which then shifts to the truly discordant... Hell's music box meets an untuned calliope and bass beats to form a dark, chaotic (yet interestingly listenable) atmosphere. Through the Center of Gray is another rich blend of sound construction. Deep strings flow, bejewelled with electronic shimmers. Percussion joins and organ-like swells begins to rise and intensify, then all quietly, more peacefully fades. Geese in the House of God rolls in like a swift, boiling fog. Echoey, buzzy notes interplay and multiply in another exercise in discord, giving way to more fog, and a myriad of ghostly sounds (geese, too, I think). Long, intertwined strands of twirling electronics weave the fabric of Ephemera. Never static, the sounds hush then blare in this 14.5 minute tapestry of unfolding, evolving synthwork. Two short pieces close the 50:22 disc; Signs leaps right into action, a powerful little ditty of swirling synth, rhythm and vocal "ahhh"s. Innocents proceeds with the choral sounds but without percussion and is visited by dark rumblings and mechanical sounds. The track is unfortunately short-lived; I would loved to have heard more. |
| A great beginning! Accidental Beauties earns one appreciative thumb up. To learn more, click your way to Wyatt's Sonosphere website, which includes other electric, improvisational, eclectic music resources and Mac freeware (!!!). |  |
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