Re: [microsound] critical - close open close - question

[eM <eM@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Has anyone heard "Close Open Close" by Robert Lippok (of To Rococo 
> Rot)?  It might be the new face of upcoming microsound (OK, it might 
> not be) - leisurely, evocative, some carefully treated noise, some 
> beats, a sample from Mahler - seems full of meaning but remains 
> completely inscrutable.



Good call, Michael, the Lippok Close Open Close is an excellent disc.

I'm glad to see this recent discussion about the state of Microsound! 
It has been my feeling for the last year+ that most of the discs I've 
heard/purchased have been interesting elements of something yet to 
come, a whole that does not manifest itself... the composition that 
never arrives. For me it is this lacking that is primarily 
responsible for the short listening life of much microsound. I 
realize that this exact quality that may be appealing/intriguing to 
others, so I'm not meaning to put anyone down. And I think that this 
"unfinished" quality is something a bit different than what I feel 
about other genre's, like rock/pop, where 99% of the stuff is simply 
uninteresting in every respect.

I confess that I am more captivated by some albums that have taken 
microsonic ideas and production into other areas, like Barbara 
Morgenstern's Fjorden disc (with production by the above mentioned 
Lippok), and Björk's recent Vespertine. Aside from pop, there's some 
nice material on Staubgold's Lume Lume, and the seemingly ubiquitous 
Endless Summer from Fennesz points towards interesting things even if 
it does not totally fulfill it's promise. Also capturing my attention 
is list recommendation Jan Jelinek's loop-finding-jazz-records... 
very nice work.

Along these lines I would like to mention another recent acquisition, 
Heroin by Stephan Mathieu and Ekkehard Ehlers. Parts of this are 
great, but I do not find the "covers" or treated versions of Guaraldi 
and others very interesting... in fact I find them kind of annoying. 
I think I understand the suggestion of memory, the haze of 
recollection and distortion of time and reproduction... and I am 
quite intrigued by the idea in doing "covers" of 
performances/recordings, even experimented with it myself... but 
those here seem a little flat to me. One thing I've observed about 
this sort of processing is that if I am familiar with the originals I 
tend to not enjoy the treatment as much, but if I am not familiar 
with the source material I can find it more engaging (i.e. Ehlers' 
invalidObject EP, which I love!). I guess, for me, it has been much 
the same with samples... when I recognize the source I often feel it 
was used poorly (though, of course, sometimes it DOES work!). Again, 
my primary aim is not to criticize directly, I am very curious about 
other folks thoughts on this.

Can anyone (Stephen?) offer me some insight into/thoughts on this issue?

Thanks!

Michael (eM)

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