Steinbruchel – Opaque (+re) (Room40)

In 2003 Steinbruchel was commissioned to produce a surround sound piece for a Swiss festival The result of his labour is the first track here, a gentle moody work with thin skittery electronics under which gentle warbling tones slowly evolve and hang weightlessly in the air. Somehow Room40 honcho Lawrence English managed to get hold of these sound files, split them up and distribute them to a variety of musicians with strict instructions on how to approach working with them. The pieces are not remixes as such, rather they’re blind reinterpretations because each artist contributes their own material without having heard the original Opaque piece. It’s a great concept, enlisting Chris Abrahams (the Necks) who was told to use only piano, Ben Frost (School of Emotional Engineering), to use only processed feedback, Taylor Dupree only processed melody, Oren Ambarchi only guitar, and Toshiya Tsunoda only field recordings. And as a result the pieces are quite diverse, despite still retaining the gentle feel of the original. Frost’s work in particular is quite incredible, a thick electric drone and tearing electrics, feeling more like a field recording, whilst Ambarchi’ short piece actually sounds like he is working with feedback systems. Abrahams takes a more tinkery scattergun approach attempting to work his keys between Steinbruchel’ subtle electronics, Dupree is operating in gorgeous downtempo almost ambient electronica and Tsunoda is operating in industrial drone territory