VARIOUS ARTISTS
1 | Favourite Places
AB016
Audiobulb Records 2008
10Tracks. 54mins04secs

A foray into the psychological swamp of today’s practitioners of experimental electronica, the simple though direct and ultimately telling quality of the question that underlies this compilation shines through the ensuing compositions like light through a stained glass window. “What is your favorite place in the world?” the label asks and Aaron Ximm, Taylor Deupree, Biosphere, and Leafcutter John, amongst others, are those who give voice to their private sentiments on the matter.

Apart from the aural evidence provided, each artist scrawls a brief gambit concerning their selection, where the sounds are protruding from and why it seems pertinent. It is pulled off with poise and a certain sense of importance, and this makes it something in which investments can be made, won, and lost, rather than something that asks for little and is content to be thumbed through casually.

In his piece 6am, Deupree records the calming burr of insects as they awaken from their mildewy bed just steps outside his home. These noises are then spliced with clean drones and hushed tones lulling time away in a state of suspension. Many others seem equally enamored with the place they call home, with its inherent spatial and acoustic potential, though the recording shows some variety, with others opting for public spaces – such as museums – or memorable vacation spots. RF, accompanied by Midori Hirano, is one of the latter, and their piece provides one of the more song-based moments harbored by the document. The piece is paved with field recordings of the two sauntering through the Shimogamo Shrine, a forested place near the centre of Kyoto, but it reverberates with a soft guitar melody and Hirano’s delicate, rather beautiful voice.

In such circumstances a purely sentimental response would be all too easy, and while the nature of the question doesn’t go without taking its victims, over the course of the album, many portray something personal while still managing it with technique and proficiency.

3/5

Audiobulb Records
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