AUTISTICI
Amplified Presence
HOMEN029
Home Normal 2011
10 Tracks. 51mins47secs

Amazon UK: CD US: CD

Following releases on 12K, Keshhhhhh Recordings and his own Audiobulb imprint, David Newman has settled down at Home Normal for his third album proper. Right from Volume Objects, released over three years ago, Newman has worked at creating incredibly detailed miniature soundscapes from field recordings and electronics, and, while the Detached Metal Voice and Slow Temperature collections of early material released last year showcased quite a different side of his work, this is once again the feature of Amplified Presence.

Over the course of this album, Newman expands quite drastically on the concept he developed on both Volume Object and Complex Tone Test by refining it much further. He has a knack for creating extremely detailed and intricate soundscapes and making them sound so extremely effortless and effective, simply by wrapping them in beautifully crafted little melodies, and he does so with brio here. Whether it is with the gentle atmospheric tones of Automated Night Light, the bleep-heavy Attachment Type or the harder edge of Tower Location, melodies are at the heart of his compositions, and binds them together. But it is ultimately with sound that he is most at ease. While deeply electronic, there is something quite pastoral and organic about this whole album, in part thanks to the way he processes acoustic sounds and field recordings into his compositions and incorporating them into his sonic palette by maintaining most of their natural aspect, yet often using them in unusual ways.

Newman creates here a fascinating world built around dreamy soundscapes, some so utterly delicate and fragile that they threaten to shatter at the tiniest sparks of density (Automated Night Light, A Bed Of Powdered Glass, Field13), other sturdier (Sixteenth, Slow Rotor Sensory Loop) and more playful (A Religion Of Water And Air, Attachment Type, Tower Location). Each piece is like a self-contained universe, with its own set of climates, sonic spaces and tones, sometimes deployed into a succession of tiny vignettes which, although appearing to work independently from each other, are in fact intricately linked. This is perhaps most obvious on A Religion Of Water And Air or Tower Location, where their respective various sections are clearly distinct, but this is found elsewhere on the record albeit in much more subtle forms.

Amplified Presence has however a very strong sonic identity of its own, and one that is very consistent throughout. This has alway been one of Newman’s strength with his records, yet it feels as this is taken to an entirely new level here. If Newman calls upon a vast sound palette for this album, he is careful to retain an overall feel for the entire album. As a result, this is undoubtedly his most accomplished and impressive record to date, and definitely one not to miss.

4.8/5

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Amazon UK: CD US: CD