Texture Review - Slobor Media - by Chuck Van Zyl

[matt borghi <mattborghi@xxxxxxxxx>]

Sorry for the cross post, but ever since I've joined these lists, I've
always enjoyed Chuck Van Zyl's reviews. They've always been articulate, and
well thought out. I haven't seen a review from him in a while, then my
counterpart Jason Sloan pointed out to me that Chuck had reviewed Texture,
our first Slobor Media release on the Star's End site-
http://www.starsend.org/update.html. I've included the review here. The
recording is going fast, but there are still copies available at
http://www.mattborghi.com, and http://www.jasonsloan.org for anyone that
might be interested...

Thanks for reading...

m  a  t  t   b  o  r  g  h  i

.KOSIK
mixed.media.composition
sound.performance.video

p.o.box 181
new hudson, mi
48165-0181 usa
e: 411@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
w: http://www.mattborghi.com
.kw: http://www.kosik.org

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
ON-LINE SHOPPE OPEN NOW!!!!!!

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Review follows:

Texture :: A Compilation Of Minimal Ambient Guitar (76'24") presents 13
artists eschewing the common musical rhetoric of the guitar. While the craft
of these works utilizes the concept of sustain over articulation, the
overall aesthetic of each realization varies with the outlook and
personality of each individual musician. The original tracks collected here
all begin with a guitar as their basic sound source, so it is through the
manipulation of this instrument's familiar tone that each piece becomes
distinct: e-bow exciting the metal strings, volume pedal to truncate the
leading edge of a plucked note, lenghty echo for doubling, layering and
thickening up thin tones, shorter delays for shifting and brightening, as
well as distortion, filtering and sustain effects to add and subtract
color... and on top of this hardware from the well-equipped ambient
guitarist's toolbag, a multitude of studio techniques were employed to
further alter and disguise.
The collection opens with "Grace and Bounty" (5'30") by Jason Sloan, which
rises slowly out of silence into dense layers of sustaining drones, then
back down again - a basic brooding storm cloud of sound. "Pulsatile" (8'03")
by Exuviae is less anxious as it rolls and churns in a submerged muted
realm. The pastoral chord progressions and heavenly timbres of Jeff Pearce's
"Harbinger" (6'05") reveals the gravity of eternity. On "Beltran" (3'43") by
Mike Bennett, we are pulled into an atonal space to be weathered by dark
winds and bleak sonorities. The title, "Lost So Much" (4'10") sums up the
emotional content of Alan Imberg's somber study for E-bow, delay and
perdition. "Lansing" (3'51") by Matt Borghi takes us on location with field
recordings of a train yard creatively mixed with ambient guitar wanderings.
With "Mare's Tale" (7'02") Numina covers a deep sustained continuo with a
narrative of creeping radiant melodies. Breathing guitar chord washes
circulate through cavernous reverberation on "Red Sun" (6'25") by Tony
Gerber + Rob Jenkins. Michale Kirson-Goldapper slowly moves his piece,
"Distance" (4'57") forward through the ever-so gradual addition and
subtraction of sonic elements over time. The effect is that of staying in
one place as your surroundings slowly change. The sound design on
"Quickenberries" (4'59") by Anomalous Disturbances is linear, concluding in
a different space than were it began - its metalic background warmed by the
slow emergence of thin sustained tones. The recurring melodic theme on Remco
Helbers' "Urban Nightshape II" (7'05") apears as an apparition above the
detuned motion of an organesque drone and provides reassurance against an
uncertain reality. True Color of Blood uses heavenly harmonic shifts and a
current of subtle changes on "Twilight State Dream" (5'17") to describe the
unique quality of that indistinct area between consciousness and sleep. This
collection concludes with "Miniml" (9'20") by Markus Reuter, his clean
swells looping, swirling and merging gracefully over and over again into
infinity.

Texture :: A Compilation Of Minimal Ambient Guitar is limited to 100 copies
and is a wonderful project - meant to challange and enlighten both audience
and artist.

Tune in this weekend to STAR'S END for music from Texture :: A Compilation
Of Minimal Ambient Guitar

Reviwed by Chuch Van Zyl