In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Leonardo Reviews 69 wildly writhing and lashing melodic lines that howl and dance with the intensity of the charged ground layer. The musical significance of this work derives from the ambiguity of the sounds’ origins. Too often, when hearing music constructed from or with samples, it is difficult to avoid trying to identify the source material, regardless of whether it was musical to begin with or concrete sounds. Banks’s recordings are not exactly concrete sounds but neither are they clearly musical. They derive from activity that the ear does not register without the aid of transforming equipment. These sounds are not laden with associations with past experiences, and they rarely trigger memories. If they do, it is after several listenings of the two R&D albums, and they still do not call any distinct object or event to mind. An accurate explanation of how they are produced falls far short of their impact and fascination—there is indeed something magical in these sounds. One can imagine that people find such sounds spooky and intimidating, but their connotations are not as sinister as those of the so-called Numbers Stations, documented on a quadruple CD by the CONET Project and originally released by Irdial Discs. Numbers Stations transmit coded messages on different frequencies in the shortwave bands. As with the electromagnetic emissions compiled by Joe Banks, they appear in the guise of information with no distinct, interpretable meaning. The difference with most of Banks’s material is that these stations operate by intention and their messages are intentionally obscure. They generally start a transmission with an alert signal, often a piece of music (for example, the famous restaurant-Gypsy-violinist showcase piece The Skylark, used by a station transmitting in Romanian). After a brief introduction and a call for attention , the bulk of the message follows as strings of numbers or letters read in groups. These can be in a variety of languages , such as English, German, Spanish , Czech and Romanian. Other stations transmit precisely tuned noise. Essays in the accompanying booklet argue convincingly that these messages are linked with espionage—purportedly they are instructions to agents abroad. It seems to be well-nigh impossible to decipher the code of each individual message. Apparently, and disconcertingly , this activity has not abated since the end of the Cold War. Another weird twist lies in the types of voices used by some stations—those of a child, or of a woman ostensibly in a state of sexual arousal. One can only guess what interests are served through such activities, and what sort of people decide what exactly these interests are, and whose interests they are. There is a shroud of mystery around Numbers Stations, a disorientating feel that immediately calls to mind the subject matter and mood of Robert Ashley’s opera eL/Aficionado. It also evokes the dark and sinister overtones of Philip Glass’s Einstein on the Beach: after hearing Numbers Stations, one cannot help wondering what the composer may have been telling to the world, and who exactly he addressed. Numbers Stations does have the characteristics of an elaborate hoax feeding off postmodern existential confusion and the latter-day predilection for conspiracy theories as well as an irrational turn-ofthe -millennium conviction that the human race is irrevocably, irredeemably and irrefutably doomed. On the other hand, much of the information can easily be checked by tuning the radio to the frequencies listed in documents that can be accessed via the Irdial-Discs web site. There is evidently quite some activity going on through the air. In their grandeur , the skies above may pervade the overworked human mind with a wholesome tranquillity. In reality, they are themselves not much less overwrought than the brain, through natural and artificial causes—a wonderful reflection of our state of mind. If being aware of reality is as crucial to our sanity as peace of mind, perhaps we are indeed doomed. LANGUAGE, MESSAGE, DRUMMAGE: COMPOSITIONS FOR TAPE AND FOR INSTRUMENTS EMF CD 00614 WAYFARING SOUNDS: COMPOSITIONS FOR INSTRUMENTS AND TAPE EMF CD 00624 MUTATIS MUTANDIS: COMPOSITIONS FOR SOLO INSTRUMENTS AND ENSEMBLES EMF CD 00634 SAWDUST: COMPUTER MUSIC PROJECT EMF CD 00644 by Herbert Brün. Electronic...

pdf

Share