: foundry indices : reviews : sounds : : : news : pictures : words : : : the foundry : hypnos REVIEWS from Grooves #16 (1/2005) http:// groovesmag.com/ written by John Gibson Jonathan Hughes Fluidities The Foundry An interesting Zaireeka-style experiment, lowercase sound artist Hughes invites the likes of Tetsu Inoue, Ian Boddy, and Dean Santomieri to work on identical-length tracks similar in tone that, spread out over two CDs, can be played individually, simultaneously, and on concurrent random shuffle play so that the total number of possible combinations runs to 12 hours in length, though the resolutely quiet nature of each piece means that this total is somewhat academic, as the differences between the combinations begin to diminish as they multiply in number. Individually, several of the tracks stand out - Hughes' opening "Snowdrift" is an excellent piece of piano-led microtonal ambience - but a few of them are quite thin, indicating that they really need accompaniment from elsewhere on the record to justify their inclusion. And then, played together, certain combinations are stunningly crystalline, but a number of them become fairly interchangeable in terms of the effect they create. Fluidities is a credible idea with some very rich rewards for those prepared to take the time to experiment with it properly. Listeners with weak attention spans would do well to avoid. (John Gibson)