ASCOLTARE
Gallery
CDR003
CDS
Dubbel Records 2005

ASCOLTARE
Giving Set
SL2
7”
Strange Lights 2005

ASCOLTARE
Giving Set Pt. 2
TRIPEL003
MP3
Tripel Records / Strange Lights 2005

On his first few releases as Ascoltare, Dave Henson, once a member of post-rock outfit Gwei-Lo, has been producing some extremely complex, and somewhat abrasive, electronica. If his first album, Visceral Vendor, presented a rather contrasted series of compositions, incorporating a wide range of atmospheres, he follow-up two EPs, Drugs, a collaboration with MC Keith Thornton, and Mutiny In Stereo, established Ascoltare’s harder edge with confidence.

With three EPs released almost simultaneously, Henson now showcases a different side to his music. First in line is Gallery. Collecting five tracks, this EP was originally compiled for a support show for DJ/Rupture. On here, Henson gathers further clicks, bleeps and treated vocals layered over sumptuous laidback backdrops involving warm analogue sound waves, blank noise and moody soundscapes. On Assassin & Son, Henson assembles a series of noises into forever changing patterns, but the four remaining tracks explore more delicate and melodic soundscapes. The dub-tinted On A Natural Charge resembles in part a more abrasive version of The Orb’s Huge Ever Growing Pulsating Brain. Vile Haze, The Good Ass Turned Over and Somewhere There Are The Absent as far less straightforward, with the former built around broken beats and background, with various vocals dropped in to contrast with the minimal sound structures. The latter follows a similar path, yet the soundscapes developed here as far denser and disturbing. The Good Ass Turned Over is set somewhere in between, with moments of raging calm interrupted with static noises and radio interferences.

Giving Set is a far more subdued affair altogether. Released as a two-part set, the first in the shape of a three-track seven inch single (Strange Lights Records), while the second is made available to download for free from the Tripel Records website reveals the extent of the atmospheric nature of Henson’s music. Deprived of beat, stripped down to the bone and left exposed, the seven glitch formations entertained over the course of the two halves of this project appear at once rawer and more organic. Evoking in part the foggy atmospherics of Fennesz, Giving Set allows for emotional moments to surface and take shape. Warped melodies wrapped in beautiful blankets of glitches and electronics, with hints of acoustic instrumentation, appear out of nowhere and develop into sumptuously colourful abstract constructions, making these two EPs Ascoltare’s most compelling work to date.

FENNESZ / SAKAMOTO
Sala Santa Cecilia
TONE22
CDS
Touch 2005

Sala Santa Cecilia documents the first part of a live performance given by Austrian experimentalist Christian Fennesz and Japan’s best-known electronic musician Ryuichi Sakamoto, recorded in Rome during the 2004 edition of the Romaeuropa Festival.

Finding their way through stark sonic landscapes, Fennesz and Sakamoto combine their individual experiences with electronics to present a superb composition. This nineteen minutes overture to their 2004 laptop duet is a dense and intricate affair. Built over constantly changing beat-less backdrops, this track evolves on a variety of levels at ones, snaking its way through clouds of noise, pulsating bubbles, erupting guitar sequences, glitch-ridden plains and razor-sharp soundwaves. Very much set on Fennesz’s grounds, yet fuelled by Sakamoto’s experimental vision, this collaboration is utterly unique and demonstrate the symbiosis between the pair as it becomes very difficult to identify their respective input.

Since this collaboration, Fennesz and Sakamoto have teamed up for more live performances, and, in the light of this superb EP, it is only to be hoped that they will soon commit this fruitful partnership to album length.

CLAUDE YOUNG
Electronic Dissident
DUSTV003
12”
Dust Science 2005

FRED GIANNELLI
Telepathica EP
DUSTV003
12”
Dust Science 2005

Newly formed Dust Science Records is already showing promising signs of constant excellence. Launched with the first release from The Black Dog for years, the Sheffield-based imprint has now enticed Detroit legend Claude Young and electronic master Fred Giannelli into contributing.

One of Detroit’s most prominent and influential DJs and producers of recent years, Claude Young has brought some welcome fresh energy into a scene that was flagging a bit toward the end of the nineties. With a host of releases as Project 625, Rhythm Formation and Being under his belt, Young released his debut album, Soft Thru, on Dutch label Elypsia in 1997. Featuring two original compositions, Electronic Dissident and Hamburg By Night plus a Black Dog-bitten version of the title track in between, Young’s offering is pure classic smooth techno. Electronic Dissident slowly rises from a sea of silky soundwaves and progressively takes shape around a pulsating beat/synth formation. As the groove is injected deep within this polymorphic structure, Young switches the focus of his track from lounge to dance floor. Yet, he retains the complete atmospheric nature of the piece to the end, creating here a superb example of hybrid techno/ambient moment.

Hamburg By Night is equally fascinating. Evolving on similar grounds to, and remaining extremely consistent with, Electronic Dissident, yet introducing a more aquatic theme, this second track showcases a different side of Young’s sonic playground. Here, attention is paid to the emotional aspect of the music and the connections between sounds and melodies.

The Black Dog take Electronic Dissident into tribal territories by injecting a pounding beat and undermining the layers of soundwaves, giving the original a more minimalist attire as they focus purely on its dance floor potential. Yet, this is in many ways a very respectful revision as Young’s personality is preserved.

Boston’s Fred Giannelli is another pillar of contemporary music. In the thirty years or so since he first appeared on the music scene, he has been seen service alongside Genesis P. Orridge in Psychic TV, has released records under a variety of guises on Ritchie Hawtin’s Plus 8 label as well as his own, Telepathic. The Telepathica EP collects three minimal techno pieces. Distant Gratification, which opens, is a magnificent example of classic Detroit-infused techno. Built around a bouncy set of sounds and thumping drums, this is nothing short of a nasty stomper. Delirious and Prescience, the two remaining tracks, are more linear in form. Reminiscent of classic German techno, both are perfect dance floor fillers. Of the two, Delirious is the most hypnotic and groovy as Giannelli twists his bass line to breaking point, giving it some glitterball glamour in the process. Prescience closes this EP in excellent style with its minimal soundscapes and obsessive rhythmic patters.

As the good people at Dust Science are gearing up for the release of the forthcoming Black Dog album, they demonstrate an incredible flair for lounge/dance floor crossover with these two excellent releases, which are likely to please the head as much as the feet.