borrowed tunes

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April 21, 2005

alog :: miniatures

(buy)

The 3rd in our attempted unbroken string of 2005 Rune Grammofon release reviews comes courtesy of Alog. According to thier bio, this duo (one of which works solo on R.G. under the name Phonophani) is named after all of the following words: analog, dialog, logic, a logbook, catalogue, analogy, and so on.

They are expressly interested in the details of sound, and what you hear in their highly abstract music are both electronic and organic sounds chopped up and ostinatoed and panned around until you begin to notice their every tiny feature. Detailed information is carried in the high frequencies, and as such you won't hear much low end here. Lots of plucking, tinkling, and air. Beats are also virtually non-existent (though they do try them out occasionally).

These aren't songs, they're compositions in the strictest sense of the word. Built up from pieces, parts, and blocks.

It's also worth noting that they have written their own software to accomplish all of this. Mac users can download it by clicking on this link. I would love to know more about it, but I'm a PC hack. Someone check it out and post a comment with the scoop. All I've been able to glean is it has some setting or feature called "dream-effect". Sounds Norsk to me.

I don't know what else to tell you. The disc starts very strong and ends with a whimper; it's best on headphones; it is chock full of wondrous moments but perhaps doesn't leave much of a lasting impression.

Wire magazine (with David Stubbs writing) said:

. . . there are occasions on Miniatures . . . which feel just a little desultory, whimsical little juxtapositions of sound. But there are ample compensations such as "St. Paul's Sessions II", whose sleighride glockenspiel motif glides pleasingly over a moronically repetitious chord in a way that's reminiscent of Terry Riley's in C.

Also, closer to home, if you liked the last couple of Matmos discs, especially The Civil War, you should giv this a spin.

Lucky for me, 3 mp3s are available at the Alog site. Bandwidth saved!

Severe Punishment and Lasting Bliss (mp3)
St. Paul Sessions II (mp3)
The Youth of Mysterious Conversations (mp3)

Posted by borrowed_tunes at April 21, 2005 09:46 PM

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