The Room 40 crew has amassed an impressive list of names for thistwo-disc set billed as "meditations on sound in sleep," and theprospect of new tracks from Oren Ambarchi, DJ Olive, DJ/Rupture,Scanner, David Toop, and Janek Schaefer ought to be enough to sell thedisc on its own. Really everyone here brings it, with solid tracks fromlesser-known artists that are equally impressive and often moreinventive than those from their well-known counterparts. The theme isbroad enough as to allow a wide range of interpretations withoutdictating any particular mode of composition. The two basic approachesto the idea seem to be physiological—that of capturing or recreatingsound as heard through the muffled filter of sleep, andpsychological—that of playing with the noises and music of dream statesand the subconscious. There are the expected slow, sleepy drones anddreamy chimes (Al Yamamoto, Steinbrüchel, Zane Trow, Barret, Musgrove& Sinclair), but the project also offers some more out-there takesas well, such as Skist's shrill whine accompanied by non-sequiturfemale vocals, Timeblind's ridiculously time-stretched speech, andDavid Toop's spooky dream narration. John Chantler starts disc two offwith a delightfully fun recording of his microwave that transforms intoa cheeky beep-beat before giving way to drums and guitar: not somethingI would have expected on a disc devoted to experimental musicianscomposing tracks about sleeping sounds. Philip Samartzis turns in alocation recording, while Martin Ng & Tetuzi Akiyama give us theobligatory microtonal sine wave ear workout. If i never hear a piercingsine wave composition again, it'll be okay with me. Scanner gives up asynth-heavy piece with some instructional voice-over through delay thatrecalls his Spore-erawork, while Frost plays with fuzzy dream guitar and simple pianofigures that are understated and beautiful. DJ/Rupture takes the pathleast travelled by producing a mix of beats and samples that impliesthat what he hears while sleeping are the muffled, fractured pieces ofhis record collection banging together into a mix. In the realm ofexperimental music, these kinds of collections too often offer artistsa chance to pad an already overstuffed discography with throw-awaypieces and under-realized mixes. Not so, here. Room 40 manages towrangle up some top talent at the top of their game for an engaging andrepeatable listen. - - DJ/rupture - Heart Murmur
- David Toop - Hypnogogmatist
- Frost - Svaritfoss
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