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Anna Zaradny, "Mauve Cycles"
While she has already built up an impressive discography in collaborations with other artists, this is her first solo CD. This wouldn't be apparent from listening, because there is a great deal of maturity in the composition and structure of the two tracks that make up this album. Alternatingly chaotic and rhythmic, there is a lot going on in this complex disc.
The longer first track opens with rattling digital bells that shift awkwardly in volume, which eventually gives way to reverbed ambient sound and high pitched tones that could probably shatter glass if played at a high enough volume. The dynamicism of this disc becomes clear, when these pristine and pure tones are supplanted by crunchy textures and mechanical ambience of a grimy, industrial variety. The patterns and abstract rhythms continue to develop as a looped piece of warm and fuzzy static punctuates the mix.
The machinery sounds become more varied and eventually lock into a song-like rhythmic structure, propelling the piece along before the sound transitions to low frequency sine waves, clicks, and electronic burps that once again build into a rhythmic structure, augmented with odd sounds and a complex, but rhythmic mix. Eventually the machinery elements fall away, leaving just repeated tones and clicking noises, finally fading out to minimal ambient tones.
The second track opens with bassy tones and some glitch style clicks and pops, along with some pronounced ringing tones. The piece is just as complex as the prior one, but the overall mix is somewhat less dense, allowing a bit more space between the varying elements. The most conventional sounds arrive in the form of arpeggiated synth elements that dominate for awhile, and eventually pull away to allow string-like electronic tones and chiming elements to be the focus before peeling away the layers and slowly fading out.
The fact that this manages to compile the standard dissonant electronic noises—but in such a way as to use them as building blocks into complex, dynamic structures—is what sets this apart from the glut of similar projects out there. It has a compositional complexity and maturity that many artists strive for, yet Zaradny has accomplished here on her first solo outing.
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