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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