Rob Mazurek descends further and further into the realms of the electronic on his impressive new album, a noise experiment rife with complicated sounds and intricate environments. Where Mazurek is used to working with others — he's a regular contributor in several ensembles and his first solo album featured guest musicians — on Frankenstein he goes it completely alone, eschewing all instruments even for a completely electronic sound.
All sounds are created and manipulated using a computer, minidisc, and a tone generator, mixing warm tones and burbles with field recordings and loud distortion. Mazurek also seems to understand fully the importance of silence, as there are quite a few moments where quiet is king. It's a welcome break from the more grandiose moments, where deafening noise that could shatter walls fills the speakers, so it doesn't detract from the overall experience. It would have been amazing to hear what Mazurek would have done with some live instrumentation with the electronics as a base layer, or even if he'd manipulated music in the same fashion as the other sounds; but perhaps he felt he's done that enough elsewhere. The only other complaint, if it can be called that, is that two tracks at over sixty-two minutes makes it difficult to zero in on a specific part for a repeat listen. As a straight-through experience, though, I was hard pressed to think of another recent ambient noise record I enjoyed more. There are abrupt and delicate shifts, brilliant moments in mixing, and sounds that can cause head turning or seizures when heard on headphones. The throughline is appropriate for the title, as there is a touch of violence, just below the surface, in every track that may seem like a lamb more than a lion. Quiet drone melodies are augmented by clicks, whines, and hums, and the sounds of the outside world are joined by the manic whirl of machine noise and occasional screech tones. The pieces are exquisitely organized and orchestrated, and invoke many emotions. As far as boldly going where he's never gone before, Rob Mazurek succeeds in spades, even though I half hope this is a one time occurrence. It would be a shame for such a talented musician to leave it all behind for digital noise, even if it is this good.
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