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Spherics is an experimental album of sampled sounds, drones and loops, cavernous echo, and ambient treachery. Michel Banabila’s use of repetition, subtle changes, and sporadic bursts of electrostatic noise provide an auditory travelogue into the anatomy of generators, oscillators, and the rumble of machinery. The interesting aspect of this album is the use of electronics in combination with more traditional acoustic instruments: guitar and violin. By using these instruments in a non-traditional manner, the sounds procured lose a referential base that would normally make these instruments easily recognizable upon listening. The cymbal as percussion also added to the overall sense of mystery to the sound.
The general problem with experimental music is that it can sound repetitious and self-indulgent. It is a genre that I take quite seriously, because any musical innovation over the course of the history of music has been experimental in nature. Therefore, it is important to judge any experimental music in terms of innovation. An innovative aspect explored on this CD was the successful use of acoustic instruments in an electronic setting. The repetitive nature of the music unfortunately relegates this CD to the realm of soundtrack to the mundane realities of life, or background noise to the society’s infatuation with its own innate robotic tendencies toward obedience and complacency. Not that this relegation is necessarily a bad thing, but it does make you think about the direction society is heading.
RATING: 8
Artist Link: http://www.banabila.com
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