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CD Feature/ V.A.: "Echoes of Polyhymnia"

  Tobias

In the wake of Polyhymnia, a muse of mime, meditation, and all those arts that deal in things distant, hidden, and enigmatic, the ten female sound artists assembled here tread lightly, with sights set to elegant approximations of an invisible interiority. In a dutifully pensive yet relaxed spirit, they thus veer off in a variety of directions and cover moods from many far flung and widely scattered waterfronts. The end result being an album that feels like a colorful collection of wet shells and stones.

More voyeuristic than diaristic, they avoid fatigued pastiche, transforming an array of effects into something more than mere effects and making them part of coherent compositions that demonstrate a real understanding of shapes and flows and an intuitive grasp of vivid assemblage.

After the computerised firestorm of "Nufon", which bristles like a restless wood sprite, and the sweeping goth lance of "Hibernia", "Slew Wave" settles into more distinctive and memorable moments. Its thick, interweaving drones and evocative echoes maintain an active aura of mysteriousness, which is invigorated in its last length by a nimbus of digital tones that delight in juxtaposition and fracture. Each artist proves particularly capable in this regard: while languorous drones and misty neo-romantic undertones can easily render a tracks expressive sensibility somewhat soporific, those on hand here keep it coursing forward through several inviting, undiscovered bournes, and thus carrying the listener along with them.

Further channels in this beguiling catalogue of cryptography benefit from an itchy intensity (The Floating World), flirtations with an apocalyptic mythos (K Cornelius), and thorough explorations of the effects of clarity and indistinctness (Lena Griffin). These various brushstrokes compliment each other well and together amount to a treasure house of fresh, mysterious, and seductive sounds.

By Max Schaefer 

Homepage: Hypnos Records