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The Crystalline Address

The Crystalline Address

a review by Bill Tilland of
release format The Crystalline Address by Scanner, Kim Cascone (SR203 / EFA 27690-2)

text

Given the nature of their "instruments," one would be hard-pressed to isolate the individual contributions of Scanner (aka Robin Rimbaud) and Kim Cascone on this collaborative release. In the past, Scanner's attention has typically been directed toward the random pulses, static, white noise and other ambiguous messages from shortwave radios and cellphones, while Cascone, who has a background in computer music, has tended toward abstract, meticulously controlled electroacoustic compositions. The potential for fruitful collaboration certainly exists here, and regardless of who is doing what, the interaction of the two sound artists is clearly a success. A wide range of sounds is presented for the listener's consideration - from crunches, crackles, hisses and pops to wobbly oscillations, twitterings, clear bell-like tones and vast, sonorous drones. And thanks (probably) to Cascone, the material is carefully organized, with its own underlying logic and structure. Consequently, the result is much, much more that just a collection of curious noises.

The two pieces on the CD are roughly twenty minutes each. They use a number of common sound elements, but the first, "Behavioral Sink," is somewhat more spacious, and has a more pastoral ambience. It's easy to see/hear this music in terms of a "soundpainting," with the two artists collectively creating electronic landscapes populated with strange electro-mechanical creatures making their way within a bewildering, inscrutable geography, caressed by gentle cosmic winds. The second track, "Atavistic Endeavor," is somewhat busier, with at least a touch of menace - but still light years and decibels away from the predictable weight of hardcore industrial. The soundworlds on display in The Crystalline Address are no doubt inhospitable to carbon-based lifeforms, but the environments are dynamic and interactive -- and presumably quite congenial to their inhabitants.

As is usual with Cascone, sounds themselves are recorded with great clarity,
and this CD will be a real treat for all fans of electro-acoustic
music.

Posted by Bill Tilland at 13:51, 25 Feb 2003