Vital Weekly 316
March 14 2002 by Frans de Waard
TETSU INOUE & CARL STONE,
pict.soul (C74)
Tetsu Inoue and Carl Stone are both
known produces of ambient music, each with their own perspective
of the matter. The software of Max and MSP offers them the possibility
to play together, but it's hard to tell wether they sat together
to do this, or wether this music was exchanged as files through
the (e)mail. I must admit I heard a little bit more of Inoue's
work, than of Stone's work, so to pin down the signatures of both
is kinda difficult. I was thinking that that's maybe good thing,
because I have a fresh approach to it. To classify their ten pieces
as 'ambient Oval' may not entirely justify what they are doing,
but it sort of describes the areas where they are. It has those
skipping/glitching like features of Oval, but it lacks the poppyness
of them first Oval albums, and (luckily) the noisyness of the
latter. It's all together a much more abstract thing that harks
more of its influences from serious avant-garde then from popmusic.
Except in tracks which seem to employ rhythms (or maybe a series
of repetitions) like '(.ram', of course. But the length of the
pieces are more popmusic like and the ambience held within is
not a new thing, but it has warmth. So in all not really a spectular
release, but operating in a small niche of its own and not much
else like this is done (with of course the odd exceptions here
and there), so this is most welcomed release.
-- Frans de Waard
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