From david turgeon Sent Tue, Aug 3rd 1999, 18:56
From david turgeon Sent Tue, Aug 3rd 1999, 18:56
plasmalamp _void travelling_ cd worm interface, u.k. - wi018 01. psi clones 02. void traveller 03. alpha 04. slowly 05. lenticular clouds 06. altered bios 07. tak 08. scrambled messages no matter how outsider-like their albums appear to be, worm interface likes you to like them. this is reflected well enough in their recent releases by jake mandell, solar x & more recently baraki. the sounds are almost obligatory soothing & comforting; solar x even manages to render a merzbow-like screech ear-friendly in his song 'supertechno'. but whereas all of these releases seemed to veer into a form or another of eclecticism, touching different sounds to prove their point, plasmalamp's first full-lengther for worm interface, _void travelling_, instead focuses on a closed set of sounds: the world of bleeps & old-style beatboxes. & indeed, on a first listen, it does become a wonder whether paul verna, the human personae behind plasmalamp, has even bothered with structure at all. sure enough, the opener, 'psi clones', is contained fairly well within a five-minute frame, but as soon as you get into the second track, 'void traveller', the premise of the music becomes clear - or perhaps more nebulous, depending where you stand from -: sounds themselves are what deserves your attention. you'll have to wait for five minutes into this song before an actual melody begins - & it doesn't even last that long! is it ambient then? the answer would be obvious if it weren't of the darned beats - usually breakbeats in one form or another, as verna doesn't seem very concerned with the detroit-by-berlin thump. but the thing is, they're not everywhere, & although this album overall has a definite ambient _purpose_, the bleeps - & hell, _every_ sound on this album - pop in like as many little bursts, or sprinkles, begging you to take notice &, more especially, enjoy. song structure on this album being so loose & blurry, & the songs themselves developing so slowly, the bleeps are pretty much all you'll have a hold onto apart from a few exceptions, such as 'alpha' - which somehow recalls disjecta circa _clean pit & lid_ - & 'altered bios'. this recording is to be appreciated for its detail & its complex, albeit somewhat obscure, musical narrative, with each successive listen bringing something new to like about it. it may sound outside trends, compared to aforementioned solar x's afx-infused drill n bass & jake mandell's cutting-edge beatstry, but that's partly what makes it so throughly enjoyable. it is hard to even pinpoint actual influences, although an _incunabula_-like sound can be found here & there, though used in a fairly different way as the autechre classic. & maybe this is ambient, but if so, it functions on two modes: you can either revel into the beauty of its numerous bleeps, or you can use its soothing qualities to make you fall asleep. or both. take a pick. -- david