Lee Patterson - Seven Vignettes (Shadazz)

Seven fine works having as their common thread the enhancement of small sounds, the unearthing of forests of detail from sources that most would consider arid. Struck matches, decaying spring boings, burning hazelnuts (! especially amazing!), butane lighters, blown-upon pine cones and more. My reference point for explorations like these, more so here as several involve combustion, is always Xenakis' awesome "Concret ph" which amplified the pings and pops encountered in burning coal if one listened closely enough. These approach that rarefied atmosphere, more than once. The range of sounds, their sheer, often alien beauty, the textural shifts within a given piece--all are handled extremely well, each track standing solidly as a full (though potentially borderless) work. The last piece, "Plateau #1", is almost symphonic in character, a gorgeous welling-up, subsidence and re-emergence of a sound-field at once hollow and agitated but with a subtle richness like a patina on an old sheet of bronze. Wonderful piece and a beautiful recording overall.

Richard's excellent and more detailed review may be read here

Ordering info: fowl@cenotaph.org (I think erstdist has it as well)

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Leaving tonight for a two week vacation in Northern Spain, tootling around from San Sebastian to Bilbao to Llanes to Gijon. May or may not have connectivity en route, so see everyone back here around the 27th.