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...and Harrison makes a beautiful save



Puh...acousmatics aren´t dead after all. ;)

After the disappointment of Smalley and Moore on empreintes, I gave
Jonty Harrisons latest on the same label a listen (as I said, high hopes
for this one), "Evidence Materielle", and wow! what an incredible CD it
turned out to be!

Amazing constructions of organic and living acousmatics and a gorgeous
soundscape ("Sorties", as featured on the underrated and underreported
"Drift: sound art + acoustic ecology"-compilation) make for some
fabulous listening. The sheer complexity of the programming combined
with some of the most up-close sound images I´ve ever heard -- I could
swear the casseroles (!) used as source material for most of track one
was coming from inside my room and not the speakers -- is unlike most
other electroacoustic enterprises I´ve heard in a long, long time.
Things bounce and glide and slide in and out of the mix with great
precision. Everything sounds in place. This sounds like music that isn´t
just an exercise in Technique, but a statement. Literary theory speaks
of "a voice". There´s definitely a voice here, as there´s a voice in
Parmegiani, Dhomont, Bayle et al.

This is typical: when things are not-so-great I have a lot to say, but
when they´re grrreat I have not-so-much to say. In any case: get
Harrison!

/Øivind/

n.p.: Jonty Harrison.