Alva Noto - Xerrox vol. 1

UFO over easy

online mahjong
This is really amazing stuff.. I tried really hard to get into some of his solo stuff having really enjoyed the tate modern audio visual thing and his collabs with ryuichi sakamoto, but couldn't. There's more in the way of melody to latch onto here, and more generally a lot of thought seems to have gone into the overall composition of the tracks and the layout of the whole album. Anyone else been listening?
 

zhao

there are no accidents
This is really amazing stuff.. I tried really hard to get into some of his solo stuff having really enjoyed the tate modern audio visual thing and his collabs with ryuichi sakamoto, but couldn't. There's more in the way of melody to latch onto here, and more generally a lot of thought seems to have gone into the overall composition of the tracks and the layout of the whole album. Anyone else been listening?

thanks for heads up. first i'm hearing about this release. unlike you, i enjoy everythng Carsten Nicolai has ever put out immensely -- funny your reaction but his collab with Sakomoto was dismissed among many for being too melodic and sentimental.

the new Senking album is fantastische.
 

zhao

there are no accidents
actually the dusted review has me a bit worried:

Although it begins with a bracing bit of crackle and buzz, Xerrox is far removed from the pinprick percussion and sub-bass thump of so much of his past work. On this latest CD, Nicolai navigates a gentler, almost pastoral musical terrain, full of gently pulsing rhythms and simple melodic patterns. The omnipresent static typically comes in soft, swirling clouds rather than sharp, percussive bursts, bathing the listener in finely wrought hiss. It's a beguiling pretty record, which is not something you'd necessarily expect from a conceptual project so tightly focused on the process of digital reproduction.


Its unerring prettiness is also its greatest weakness. It's an immensely pleasurable disc, but the ideas underpinning Xerrox promise more than gauzed, seductive beauty. Nicolai is more than capable of fusing high concept with aesthetic enjoyment -- just look at his previous Transall. Ultimately, Xerrox, Vol. 1 falls somewhat short of the mark it sets for itself

i LOVE "pinprick percussion and sub-bass thumps"!! i LOVE "sharp, percussive bursts" of static! !!!

"pastoral"? that's almost entirely a negative descriptor for me.

nothing against prettiness, but Noto is important and exhilarating because he gives me chills and goosebumps - not warm and fuzzy feelings.
 

UFO over easy

online mahjong
funny your reaction but his collab with Sakomoto was dismissed among many for being too melodic and sentimental.

:) I like melody and am a sucker for sentimentality in my computer music.

zhao said:
Noto is important and exhilarating because he gives me chills and goosebumps - not warm and fuzzy feelings.

he can do both, clearly. sometimes at the same time on this album, which might even be the whole point of the record.
 
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zhao

there are no accidents
funny a friend who makes "microsound" or "minimalist electronic music" was saying that there's been a lag, a slump, hopefully not a dead end, for this type of stuff -- that people are running out of click-n-cut ideas, and that there is a new trend of going "soft" -- sonic bubbles, warm acoustic tones, ambient slush--- this might be an example in her eyes of just such a turn.
 

UFO over easy

online mahjong
there is a new trend of going "soft" -- sonic bubbles, warm acoustic tones, ambient slush--- this might be an example in her eyes of just such a turn.

Yeah probably, although Noto has been doing this kind of stuff for quite a while now. This project is what he was beginning when he did the tate thing almost exactly a year ago.

Have a listen to it though, it's not ambient slush by any means. He just seems to have developed a slightly fuller sound. To dismiss this first volume (or praise it too much, actually) out of hand for being 'soft' would be a mistake - I'm sure it's all part of a wider concept.
 

gek-opel

entered apprentice
I saw him deliver this live, but have yet to hear it on record... Now in that environment (complete with brilliantly synced sand blast visuals) I would describe it best as almost apocalyptic ambient. Breathtaking and almost terrifying. However, in reduced form on CD listening at home, I could perhaps see how it might lose most of this effect...
 

UFO over easy

online mahjong
I saw him deliver this live, but have yet to hear it on record... Now in that environment (complete with brilliantly synced sand blast visuals) I would describe it best as almost apocalyptic ambient. Breathtaking and almost terrifying. However, in reduced form on CD listening at home, I could perhaps see how it might lose most of this effect...

The CD is an expanded version of what I saw him do.. it still has that effect if you listen to it very loudly in a dark room :D
 

borderpolice

Well-known member
It seems to me that he's going towards a more Oval-like style: everything is based on tonal drones that merge/harmonise with each other, with lots of low-volume arhythmic spikes, to liven things up.
 

zhao

there are no accidents
man... i don't know about this. there are some great granular textures n all, but on first pass it's pretty ambient, and pretty slushy.

It seems to me that he's going towards a more Oval-like style

and we all know what happened to oval... after Discont 94 increasingly unlistenable and irrelevent, and that Wonton thing with vocals... :eek:

Xerrox I think was hated/dismissed in The Wire.

i can see why! i mean it's a nice, pleasant listen but what the fuck. sounds like Loscil or Growing or a hundred other acts on Kranky. not to mention a thousand others not on Kranky.

I've just ordered Noto's For

i LOVE For. a lot more true to form.
 

zhao

there are no accidents
ok ok track 10 is pretty nice. would be great on big system. (in isolation tank. on DMT.)
 

michael

Bring out the vacuum
and we all know what happened to oval... after Discont 94 increasingly unlistenable and irrelevent, and that Wonton thing with vocals... :eek:
FWIW 'Wohnton' predates '94 Diskont'. But either way, I don't think the Oval comparison extends to their career arcs, since he/they got increasingly difficult and confrontational, not more easy-listening.
 
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