This 20-minute piece is part of a fresh series by Leerraum, juxtaposing stimulating sounds and equally remarkable visual metaphors; all materials are to be found at the label’s website. In this particular case, the audio track accompanies Evelina Domnitch and Dmitry Gelfand's exploration of complex interactions deriving from “upwardly sonicated silicone oil”, a process (described in detail in the liners) that I really didn’t manage to truly understand, but totally fascinating to say the least.
The electroacoustic materials will most evidently appeal to the many listeners who have welcomed the work of Asher Thal-Nir over recent years. In fact these symptoms (concocted by Gough and elaborated by Zimoun) openly call to mind the conversion of urban landscapes altered by a patina of digital griminess typical of the Bostonian. The DVD that Zimoun was so kind to send for review has been endlessly spinning for hours on repeat mode. This is undeniably the best way to get encircled by the mass of incidences, sonic substances active at the unintentional level even as they stuff the ears with clogging rumble, hardly audible yet effectual acute frequencies and layers of hiss and digital rubble that, amazingly, are perceived like a beneficial palliative by an overstressed brain (such as mine these days). However, when we decided to stop the playback the lingering sensation was one of tinnitus, obviously depending on the volume implemented.
There’s not much more as far as descriptive comparisons are concerned, since the whole affair is erected upon these grounds. What’s definitely to recommend is listening to it in diverse ways. Headphones are going to help in unearthing internal micro-rhythms and changes in the equalization that the massive murmur heard in the room via the speakers keeps fairly undisclosed. This lets us appreciate the compositional endeavor, while the “environmental” diffusion is still an excellent means for separating ourselves from the rest of the world and concentrate on the small things that define our physical subsistence.
