Re: [microsound] Review

[JonAbbey2@xxxxxxx]

well, I might as well put in two cents on the other side:

I was a big fan of +/- when it was released, but I don't think Ikeda has done 
much since then to build on this seminal work. I was looking forward to 
Matrix, and I've only heard the first disc so far, but, well, let me cut and 
paste a few bits of the earlier review:

<<what sounds as a single note of droning lab-setting sterility are, in fact, 
layers of
analogous waves that fluctuate slowly, gently, often without the listenerâs 
awareness.>>

without the listener's awareness? huh? to me, "what sounds as a single note 
of droning lab-setting sterility" is in fact a single note of droning 
lab-setting sterility, as in fact the first disc of this set most decidedly 
is (again, I haven't heard the second disc yet).

<<here the sounds morph, changing pitch and
frequency, becoming even more complex and interesting. Each
subsequent room with its independent acoustics provide yet
another set of sounds. One is able to change the sound by
walking through the listening area as well as simply
shifting the listening position. This amazing
characteristic puts âMatrixâ in a class of itâs own>>

again, huh? this is a characteristic common to most pure sine wave/tone-based 
electronic records and is way more evident on Ikeda's earlier work, just to 
name one example. I tried walking around "the listening area", believe me. a 
class of its own? go buy a copy of Xenakis' Legende d'Eer immediately. 

maybe I'm spoiled from listening to my upcoming CD which is in a similar 
vein, Toshimaru Nakamura/Sachiko M.-do (out in February), but Matrix seems 
completely lifeless to me. maybe that's the point, but if it is, it's not a 
very interesting one, at least to me.

as always, just my opinion. anyone else heard this yet?

Jon
www.erstwhilerecords.com