REVIEWS reviews...... sounds...... pictures...... words...... links...... info from the Motion website review by dan hill (dan@state51.co.uk) 06 January, 2000 eM Motor Sessions EP The Foundry First electromagnetic radiation. Then binary data. Now the motor. eM's modernistic exploration of the sounds of modernity continues with this shorter dedication to the one of the last century's principal guiding forces. As with eM's fascinating last record, 'Greater Than Zero, Less Than One', which explored the near-random data patterns of his Powerbook as "found sounds", creator M Bentley has produced an extremely deep listening piece, in which the sounds are actually "very electronica". So at face value, the link to "the motor" is certainly not an obvious one, but rather a conceptual leap which again bears fruit. Yet it transpires that Bentley did begin the recording process with field recordings of different motors, from car engines to refrigerators. He states that in the sound layering and shaping process "tracks were very much shaped by the qualities and structure of those original motor sounds, though the field recordings did not always survive the final mixing." It's difficult to pick out particular tracks, as not only is the record unlabelled (as far as I can tell! It's a simple opaque silver inlay), but there are at least four sets of names for the four tracks inside the 'booklet' (some of which are very entertaining). Checking the website, I can deduce some nominally "official" titles, but as with eM's other work, amidst all this modest deflection of focus away from the creator, a very individual musical voice is emerging. There's two distinct sides: a Jeckyll and Hyde perhaps. There's certainly an austere ambience, featuring roughly hewn textures and dark, oppressive riffs (the industrial yet organic sounds found in David Lynch's "Eraserhead" spring to mind), often beatless, yet occasionally ending up in a rhythmic minimalist techno. Yet, whatever this mood might say about motors, or Bentley's perception of them, I wouldn't want to overplay the darkness or inhumanity, as the sound drifts and shifts smoothly across the record, seeming to reveal or represent as much about the human shaping of technology as the end-results themselves. The first track in particular is actually pretty funny, occasionally recalling a pissed dalek playing a bagpipe. This 7inch EP comes in a purpose-built cardboard box including extensive loose-leaf literature on the subject matter. It really is very, very beautiful, and clever, packaging - the kind of hand-made-but-quality, limited edition products which could well retain "value" in a musical future where the product appears to disappear. Combined with a truly useful website to match, Michael Bentley's label The Foundry, is pretty much developing into a perfect role model for the modern small label. Dedicated to Bryn Jones, "who showed us something unusual", Motor Sessions is unusual too. In the best possible way.