ARTICLES
Ten Questions: Fat Jon
MUTEK 2006

ALBUMS
65daysofstatic
A Cloud Mireya
Ambarchi and Ng
Another Elec. Musician
Derek Bailey
Band Ane
Barzin
Black Gold 360
The Blow
Boduf Songs
Childs
Darc Mind
Dosh
Duopandamix
Fat Jon & Styrofoam
Liam Gillick
Shuta Hasunuma
Tim Hecker
Ilkae
Jack's Son
Richard Jäverling
Jazzkammer
Junior Boys
Last Days
Hanno Leichtmann
Luomo
Mandelbrot Set
Mountaineer
N.Phect & Dizplay
Part Timer
Karsten Pflum
Benoît Pioulard
Plus Device
+/- {Plus/Minus}
Relay
Saroos
Seht
Shedding
So Percussion
Sybarite
Trio Vopá
Marshall Watson
Weather Report
Donato Wharton
Christopher Willits
Xela

COMPILATIONS/MIXES
ESL Remixed
Four Tet
Garnier & Craig
Ginglik Saturdays
Michael Mayer
Henrik Schwarz

3"/7"/10"/12"/EPs
Colleen
Delano and Xpansul
Detritus
Ed Devane
Eskimo
Feathers
Goldmund
Ezekiel Honig/Graphic
Ezekiel Honig
Eliot Lipp
Robert Lippok
Alejandro Lopez
Evan Marc
Porter & Carr
Sebastian Russell
Somone Else
Spaceships & Pings
SplitEP3
Simon Whetham

So Percussion: Amid the Noise
Cantaloupe

Formed at the Yale School of Music in 1999, So Percussion accomplishes the enviable feat of establishing itself as a credible ‘new music' percussion ensemble without sounding overly indebted to Steve Reich. One way the quartet downplays the association is by integrating electronic textures into its material. Consequently, a piece like “White,” with its echoing chimes and static-flecked rhythm patterns, becomes more an electronic composition that happens to accentuate percussive elements, rather than a percussion piece per se; in similar manner, “September” is more Electronic-Gamelan than Music For Eighteen Musicians. So Percussion also distances itself from the minimalism association by expanding the range of instrumentation; in addition to the expected vibes, glockenspiels, and marimbas, Amid the Noise adds Fender Rhodes, toy piano, kalimba, harmonica, melodica, tuned and prepared pipes, drums, synthesizer, and murmuring voices to the mix (guitars appear too, courtesy of Grey McMurray and Masaru Takahashi). Finally, despite the fact that the group's first two Cantaloupe releases feature the work of established composers (a four-person realization of Reich's epic Drumming, conventionally performed by nine percussion players, and a debut that includes works by David Lang and Evan Ziporyn), the dozen pieces on Amid the Noise are entirely composed by group co-founder Jason Treuting and are, by ‘classical' standards, brief with many in the four-minute range.

The stop-start rhythms and melancholy aura that initiate the crystalline “Go” suggest a Michael Torke influence but the character of the piece dramatically shifts after the intro to become an almost entrancing ‘world' amalgam of African and Asian sounds. Amid the Noise is often, though not exclusively, dreamily atmospheric and soothing (i.e., the peaceful closer “February”), a quality reinforced by the vibraphone's reverberant gleam. The group is clearly adventurous and ambitious: Treuting and Lawson White are also members of Alarm Will Sound (which released Acoustica, the recent collection of Aphex Twin interpretations), and So Percussion is not only touring with Matmos this fall but may also collaborate with the equally explorative Drew Daniels and M.C. Schmidt on an album next year.

November 2006