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from Ampersand Notes 2006_3 written by Jeremy Keens (jeremy.keens@rmit.edu.au) Old issues at: http://ampersandetc.virtualave.net/ampersand.html FOU.23 Various Artists Thing Asunder FOU.24 Michael Bentley This World FOU.25 Saul Stokes Vast FOU.26 Forrest Fang & Carl Weingarten Invisibility & & & Forged at The Foundry The Foundry was an early supporter of &etc and it was good to hear from Michael again after the hiatus, and then to receive a package that just about fills the gap in ampersands documentation of the label. (www.foundrysite.com) Fou.23: Various artists: Thing asunder. This continues two threads through The Foundry - firstly, Bentley has always been a visual artist (reflected in the cover designs) and writer, and an early contact that I had was to get some of the chapbooks which he produced. While that side has been held in abeyance while the label and music has grown, Thing asunder started life as a chapbook which was used as a stimulus to composition (and will be coming to the website, I hope - still not there!). The second thread is that The Foundry has released a surprising number of collaborative 'themed' compilations (think Mote, 360degrees, bibimbap, fluidities) - and this is another. Bentley opens with a long piece that beautifully balances tonal ambience, sonography and spoken components (direct and processed for all three) after which Earwicker's Wall is a wall of sound (various textural electronics, tones, some sonography [vinyl loop, phones] with some suggestions of voice) that finely modulates. From text is a more growly ambience, darker, again with deep hidden voices, from Ben Swire; after which Steve Brand's Wrapped in leaves is lighter, tonal and ringing layered, with some voice tones to continue the theme. Sixteenths see Bentley close the album with orchestral long tones which provides a lovely conclusion. Very tasty. Fou.24: M Bentley: This World. Comprising two works. The second, import, you all should own (if you have taken my advice!) This was originally released as one of Fallt's InvalidObject series - a set of 24 15 minute releases, each made up of 15 tracks, by a swag of top artists. Limited edition cds it was also released as MP3s for download and strenuously mentioned in &etc across 2001 (5 copernic hits: the MP3s are still available at Fallt). Bentley's opens with a site recording Port of origin, and then seems to deconstruct/reconstruct and process the sounds over the remaining tracks before hitting site again with Port of call, before Epilogue loops a vinylhiss and final voice sample. A subtle piece. Chronos & Kairos is 40 minutes long and was originally a sound and image piece for a Foundry tour, and a DVD which sadly was lost in a computer disaster. The sound version opens with Time (fabricated) and we are in a world of ticking with subtle sounds behind, a wash and an emerging keyboard melody, shimmers and twizzles later, into Time (retrograde) where the ticking echoes, slows and gains complex rhythms together with more tones. An almost industrial aspect slides into Sine (of the times) which includes some sine tones and hollow resonant chords. Ambience in Pavane of string plucks, long tones, a slow deep thud (time slowed down) birdlike ticks that fuse into statements, developing a billowing of swooshes and big tones. Kairos (storm) is a combination of electronica and watery storm recordings, and crickets that appear in Chronos (night) with more storms, evoked rhythms and a simple melody with a typewriter percussion, providing a simple relaxed conclusion to a finely wrought suite. Two excellent pieces - one happily made available to a wider audience, the other rescued from what would have been an unhappy disaster. A nice pair. Fou.25: Saul Stokes: Vast. I first heard Saul Stokes through a release on Hypnos and he has recurred on a couple of Foundry collaborative albums, reappearing here with one of his own. He creates his own synthesisers to develop the sounds he is looking (hearing?) for. The seven tracks here follow a similar model, drifting and subtle ambience, into which a rhythm is slowly injected and then finally a melodic line. The track then plays with these, often involving dropping back to the beat, before rebuilding often in a different direction. The mood is joyous overall, underlined by the beats and the instrumentation, and while the basic architecture is a constant, what Stokes does within this plan is as varied as you could want, providing an album of very enjoyable beated ambience, where the length of the tracks allows for growth and development. They are also complex in their sonorities, timbres and moods which makes revisiting a continuing pleasure. A celebration of an album. (On the Saul Stokes web site there is a growing list of free remixes of tracks from the album) Fou.26: Forrest Fang and Carl Weingarten: Invisibility. This is a hard album to review as the liner notes foreshadow the obvious analogies. Fang creates an atmospheric electronic sound bed over which Weingarten adds guitar, usually as a tone or colour rather than as a melody - and Eno and Fripp are the first thing that comes to mind, as noted by Dean Suzuki on the inner fold. Both artists are familiar with their chosen instruments and the album flows like a beautiful river over under through and into whatever you are doing. And like a marvellous river you can just observe the general flow letting it carry you, you can watch ripples eddies and waves develop and shift or you can dive right in and immerse yourself. It doesn't have any rapids or weirs (to stretch the metaphor) that pull you up or grab for your attention, but subtle moments and developments (like the current guitar solo - Invisibility) that float by and which together ensure that this will not dissolve into the ocean of ambient sounds. You can step into this river twice, and will want to step in many times, and I am sure that the waters will stay fresh.