Gaudi & Testa – Continuum (em:t records)

Posed as the “antithesis of a musical journey’, Continuum, the latest effort by London-based producer Gaudi and sound-therapist Antonio Testa, is supposed to exist on a solely abstract and internal level, immersing its listeners in purely aesthetic and non-figurative sound-worlds and atmospheres. To put simply, the apparent point of the record is to act as a trigger for our own imaginations as listeners, providing nothing more that a framework for our thoughts to coalesce and expand; a veritable breeding ground for the mind, if you will. But straight off the cuff, I’d like to propose that this little theory is a bunch of toss. Sure, Gaudi and Testa have created something that is atmospheric and relatively obscure in a structural sense, but Continuum is no more abstract and non-narrative than any other instrumental music. Gaudi does indulge us with “spiritual’ synth wash after “spiritual’ synth wash, while Testa add’ some water droplets and hand percussion for good measure, but this represents something quite different to the proposed empty slate for the mind to wander upon. In fact, there are some surprisingly conventional song structures here – see the dub pulse of Night Watch and aptly-titled Dub Hypnosis, and the genuine break-beat of Micro-Evolution for proof. This isn’ at all to say that Continuum is a bad listen; it’s not. There are some lovely textures and compositions here. It’s just the schmaltzy, contrived, self-important “theory’ (for want of a better expression) that lets this record down.