From Mark Stevens Sent Wed, Oct 7th 1998, 01:26
From Mark Stevens Sent Wed, Oct 7th 1998, 01:26
On Tue, 6 Oct 1998 17:57:20 EDT, you wrote: >Whoa!!! Thanks for the info, I'm all over that. And to think that I almost >didn't ask that question. Hey if you know the label info I would be greatly >in your debt. Spooky's 'Found Sound' has got to be one of the most underrated IDM albums around. There was hardly any discussion of it in here when it first came out, which surprised me, given how it sounds like a cross between Autechre's 'Incunabula', Orbital's 'Green Album' and Aphex Twin's 'SAW2'. So, to all those who don't have it, plug the gap in your collection immediately. Don't be put off if you previously tries 'Gargantuan' and didn't like it -- 'Found Sound' is *completely* different, it's hard to believe it's the same guys. Spooky - 'Found Sound' (GENRCD1) A&M Records 1. Central Heating (4m50s) Very Autechre-ish, a symphony that sounds like it's literally being played in a central heating system - metallic percussion, sliding metallic melodies and a few wooden percussion sounds for contrast. It all starts off simply enough but more and more metallic elements are layered on top throughout the track's duration. 2. Miscellaneous (5m41s) http://www.sonance.demon.co.uk/miscellaneous.mp3 Minimal, scattered percussion and pulsing bass sounds form a rhythmic bed on which a metallic melody emerges. Just when you think it's going to stay all clonky, some melancholic string pads wash over everything and smooth out all the rough shapes. 3. Onglon (1m20s) Similar to 'Melve' on Autechre's 'lp5'. 4. Bamboo (5m21s) The tempo's cranked up for a scattershot attack of tablas, tubes, and, well, bamboo-sounding instruments, all ricocheting off one another whilst out-of-synch metallic objects clash against one another. String pads are then sequentially folded in to create a basic melody and hold everything together. Excellent video for this too, with all the sounds throwing lines and shapes on the screen in perfect synchronisation. 5. Aphonia (4m42s) Disturbingly beautiful. Loads of dissonant, snickering, warbling, reversing sounds flicker in the darkness, whilst giant detuned wind chimes float about at sea. Elsewhere, some Aphex SAW2-style choral pads lure sailors to their death. Another spooky video for this one, featuring some very weird structures (abandoned oil platforms?) adrift in the ocean. 6. Tungsten (5m10s) Almost a reprise of 'Bamboo', only a bit more metallic. Punchy and percussive with the only hint of melody coming from a metallic droning loop. 7. Lowest Common Denominator (2m54s) A fast-paced solo piano work-out, very similar to Orbital's 'Kein Trink Wasser'. 8. Relapse (1m09s) A small slice of Aphex Twin SAW2-style ambient droning. 9. Hypo-Allergenic (6m09s) A collaboration with the Cocteau Twins, sounding a bit like one of Mark Clifford's remixes from their 'Otherness' EP. Jangly, reverb-drenched guitars create a massive feedback loop that lasts the entire length of the track. Liz Fraser's angelic vocals surge in and out of the maelstrom of noise, occasionally being twisted about by Spooky's gadgets. Ephemeral sounds and noises glide around the stereo spectrum, some exploding outwards, some collapsing in upon themselves. 10. Fingerbobs (4m06s) http://www.sonance.demon.co.uk/fingerbobs.mp3 Pure Orbital-style workout. Punchy drum kits, analogue riffs, metallic clonking and melodic riffs that could easily be the handiwork of the Hartnoll brothers. 11. Plan B (1m09s) A poisonous breeze disturbs heavy wind-chimes as it sweeps across an abandoned construction shite. 12. Concussion (5m50s) The sequel to Polygon Window's 'Quoth', only with a hint of a melody gradually bashed out of the rhythmic assault. 13. Interim (0m55s) Overlapping piano riffs with a massive triple stereo delay intertwine. Swan Lake on ice. 14. Consume (5m26s) Angelic vocal loops reverberate around a cathedral's ceiling, whilst elsewhere a muted cello tries to emulate their melody. More angels drift into the cathedral to add their own voice, giving birth to some wonderful harmonics. The cello struggles to keep up the pace and a piano arrives to give it a helping hand, but the angels are winning. 15. Silver (6m02s) Slow, shuffling beats emanating from a temple of ice in the Antarctic. And there's that metal tube sound again, struggling to forge a melody in the blizzard. Sinister strings and metallic rings rise like a cloud of vapour, then a strange computerised machine drifts into view, droning and burbling to itself. 16. Seneschal (4m02s) Hiccupping, chirruping wind chimes hang from every tree in the desolate forest, mocking the nuclear winter that laid waste to their immediate surroundings. Overall, an excellent album -- if you haven't got it, rectify that error at once! Oh, the MP3s won't be staying on my web site forever, so get them whilst you can. /\/)ark http://www.sonance.demon.co.uk/