Chuck Bettis: Sonic Sigils
Scarcelight Recordings

Consisting of seven improvisations recorded live during Fall 2003 at Brooklyn's Atheist Monastery, Chuck Bettis's Sonic Sigils upholds Scarcelight's experimental tradition with twenty minutes of scarred electronics. The opening pieces are brief but ferocious, with “Night On Fire (for Nick Bohn)” quite literally a firestorm of sorts, and jittery scrapings and machine belches in “P.I.E./L.I.T.L.” recalling Pita in particular and Mego in general. The longest and quietest piece “Faith Is Fear,” an ambient sketch of itchy skitter and echoing throbs, introduces some welcome nuance, with the more placid mood maintained by the sparkling microbes of “Neuromancy 2” and the spectral murmurings of “Hidden Reverse 2.” Call Sonic Sigils more challenging music from an always adventurous and uncompromising label.

February 2005