Typically I enjoy listening to scratches, hums, explosions, defectivemotors, swarms of bees, and intergalactic noise galore, but somehow Iam incredibly unimpressed with these exercises in manipulation. Itdoesn't even start off on the right foot: "Bsf”zyk 5" is the longestfour minutes and sixteen seconds I think I have ever sat through.Strings somehow caught on the event horizon of a blackhole pulse anddistort themselves while constantly being destroyed and repitched. It'sas if they are constantly gaining velocity only to lose it in whatsounds like a hyperspace effect from some sci-fi film. "Stocha AcidSlook" takes up just over twenty-one minutes of this forty minuterecording. It begins so promisingly with a low rumble sounding like theperpetual chant of a monk stuck on a solitary note. It slowly developsinto a more abrasive track filled with high pitched waverings of birdsmutated by a nuclear meltdown. It might read as if it is entertaining(and the first few minutes are), but after awhile it becomes moreannoying than people chattering over the music at a concert. After theonslaught of sound, the remaining tracks feel like little leftovers orhalf thought-out soundscapes that go nowhere and do nothing for thealbum as a whole. Perhaps an entire release dedicated to these littleshorts would make for an entertaining listen. It's their placement nextto this one, mammoth piece that makes them feel insignificant. Afterawhile everything begins to sound the same and all the effects becomeso foreign as to be completely alien. There are some fascinatingmoments here and there, but it ultimately distances itself too far fromme. There's no way for me to relate to it as it has almost no emotivequalities: eventually glithced out noise like this will have to findsome familiar ground to touch upon to survive. The effect of becomingso abstract is not always fascination, sometimes it just leads to plainold frustration. Read More
