Tom Rimshot
For anyone who has ever flicked a spring on a doorstop and loved the sound, this album is a wonderland. A real feast for the ears in textural sound designs.
There are quite some distinct musical differences that decide if Matthew Atkins uses his own name or the moniker Platform. The ultimate deciding factor, I think, is the use of rhythm. That is totally
absent in the work of Atkins-as-Atkins, but is very important if it is Atkins-as-Platform. Here he teams up with one Harvey Sharman-Dunn, who is a composer, filmmaker, producer and lecturer in visual media, and who is a member of Echolocation; he was a member of Chomsky, Bocca and half of Swiss Guards, all of which are names I vaguely recall seeing somewhere, but without hearing the
music. Atkins is playing electronic music but also handles the drum kit for Crumbling Ghost, NEWTS,Slowgun, Smallgang and Russell And The Wolf Choir.
The music on 'Quiet Buildings' is the result of file sharing, and on side A is Matthew using Harvey's sound material, while on the other side roles reverse. No rhythm here, but there is lots small sounds from computer manipulation; crackling, sustaining, gliding and granulating. There is a calm sound through the sounds and processes used, but that doesn't lead to ominous drone pieces. It has more to do with field recordings being processed and the results follow the unsteady curves of that input, but sound completely electronic and none of the original input can be recognized. There is also a speaking voice in here, somewhere, which reminded me of the ambient music released by Silent Records some twenty years ago (or recently, as can be read elsewhere); in fact some of this music would still fit quite well with their recently revived 'From Here To Tranquility'
series. It moves to a volume level that is not very loud and maybe as such the cassette is a medium in which some of the delicacies get lost of this. This kind of computer based treatment music works
best in the digital domain (CDs, CDRs, download), I think, unless these two composers wanted to add a bit of hiss as an aesthetic feature on here. I thought this was a most enjoyable release of
electronic ambient music; nothing new under the sun, but very well made. (FdW) Vital Weekly
Minimal Resource Manipulation bossman Matthew Atkins joins forces with composer, producer, film-maker and a lecturer Harvey Sharman-Dunn on this C30 cassette.
The pair shared audio files to compose the work, with Atkins utilizing Sharman-Dunn’s sounds to create ‘Quite Buildings Pt.1’ and vice versa for part two.
The first part is comprised of a foundation of stark, cold soundscapes over which lots of intricate unidentifiable, processed micro sounds flicker, twitch, swoop and gurgle. As the title suggests there is something of an architectural feel to these sounds; hard reflective surfaces, metal, stark geometry and so on. Then a female vocal narrative arrives that’s like some sort of self help/ relaxation tape that’s been implanted in the brain during deep sleep. As the words are spoken alongside the electronic sounds, a really futuristic, almost Vapourwave like zone emerges.
The second part has a similar detached, alienated feel; like being lost somewhere between a dreamstate and total awareness. I know I’m somewhere in space and time, but not quite sure where. The strange sounds plunging me into a place with an intangible déjà vu like familiarity. Heady stuff for sure. (Norman Records)
MRM029
credits
released September 30, 2016
All sounds and manipulations generated and woven by MA and HSD.
MRM is a DIY label for experimental music curated by Matt
Atkins, a London based sound and visual artist whose principle interests are reductionism, chance, repetition and texture. He uses objects, percussion instruments, occasionally a laptop and cassette recorders to create sound collages in both the recorded medium and live....more
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