Oren Ambarchi is one of the busiest new composers around. Sadly, his work on this 7" does not stand up to his reputation. Compared to a number of his more theoretical releases, the songs here sound somewhat shallow and unimpressive. Produced with analog equipment (or trying to mimic such gear) "Der kleine König" consists mainly of a slightly distorted naive melody line. On "Links!," he pushes the frequency range into more uncomfortable regions at first, but lets it fade away in a repetitious wave which ends abruptly in some pitch bending. Both of these tracks could easily be excerpts of a recording session from years ago that just marginally escaped the eraser button. Experimental electronic recordings like this are both average and overdone these days.
samples:
- Oren Ambarchi - Der Kleine Koenig
- Oren Ambarchi - Links
The simultaneously-released Keith Fullerton Whitman 7" features two edited parts of a concert from March, 2001. "Part One" sounds surprisingly reminiscent of a soundtrack (like the Sonic Youth score to 'Made In USA'). Guitar and loads of processing provide a moody setting which, to me, could go on much longer without ever getting boring. "Part Two" takes off with electronically-altered layers of sound until the guitar resurfaces in the middle part, only to be buried again in an effects-assault conclusion. This one's indeed a pleasure to listen to. Whitman shows a clear concept in composition which puts this release up with the best that 2002 has had to offer yet. Get it while you can.
Both singles are (as all Tonschacht releases) limited to about 500 copies and come with an info sheet.
samples:
