Rating:
Genre:
Jazz
Release Date: 02/27/2007
Karl Bauer, a violinist and
noise constructor, records under the name
Axolotl, and it's easy to see why his work has generated such a devoted following among adepts of what is affectionately known as the "
noise underground." While his compositions are complicated and dense, they are rarely forbidding and never -- well, almost never -- truly abrasive. On this collection of tracks taken from out of print vinyl releases and private CD-Rs, he demonstrates how much variation is possible within a fairly constrained structural approach: each track is basically a shimmering, pulsing mass of sound, but each sounds very different.
"Chemical Theatre" is chaotic but consonant, static but constantly moving, like a huge school of glittering fish swimming in a circle or a tightly grouped colony of restless single-celled organisms.
"Oranur" is darker and a bit more abrasive, with a high drone floating over rising and falling mechanical moans of despair.
"Lake Garden," however, is simply and enigmatically beautiful and sounds like a three-way musical summit meeting between
Laraaji,
Yo-Yo Ma and
Fred Frith. Perhaps best of all is the
minimalist and quietly gorgeous
"Bions." Least successful is the interminable and deeply annoying
"Illiaster," which closes the album on an unfortunately sour note. Highly recommended overall.
~Rick Anderson, All Music Guide
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