As a child, I had an image of how the future was going to look and I have to confess that forty-odd years later, I am pretty disappointed. Everything seems to be smaller, more compact, less shiny and interesting and space is almost ignored.
Drawing on their vast experience with the Buchla synthesisers, the modular technology of which alone look like something that Isaac Asimov may have imagined, they keep that fevered dream of a wild future alive. The whirrs and clanks and distant chatter, the sensation of distance, of mind-numbing, unimaginable distance, vast machines undertaking impenetrable tasks; it is all wrapped up in these curious conveyances of the ear.
The drones impact upon you, setting a scene of a new reality, an unfamiliarity completely removed from what you might expect when you put the stylus on a record. The two players’ ideas merge into one sonic exploration, but with the juxtaposition of ideas and sounds as they react to one another. It stays well out of the everyday; the random glitched and steamy sighs, the simmering buzz and vocal echoes acting as memories of what a human voice may have sounded like in a distant past.The sense of constant movement is unrelenting, though often unseen; we can only guess at what is taking place, a sense of mystery and wonder that is hard to convey with any other sort of instrumentation. There are a myriad of possibilities all seen through this distant, alien prism. The rush of water or the flow of passing detritus means we could be anywhere, with the saturation of some of the effects almost overwhelming.
The constant drone is the thing that ties the whole sprawling vision together but odd sounds do stick out; a brief memory of a clockwork toy dancing or the buzz of static that holds you in place. It is when the space around the sounds becomes clearer that it becomes easier to appreciate the clarity and precision that the duo manage to maintain with everything in its place yet seemingly wide open to external pressure. Flipping the record over changes the mood and pushes the listener way back. As it opens, this could be an attempt to soundtrack the big bang; the streak of heat and noise erupting outwards blasting past and unknown speeds, clusters of rock convening and the formation of stars beginning as the view opens at the speed of light. The wavelengths produced pass through these elements until they are raining down through our recently formed atmosphere.Disembodied voices draw the listener to the current times, but it could be any time since the birth of humanity. Eventually, things open out and the drone is happy to surround us without relief as squeals and grunts work hard attempting new forms of communication completely outside any sense of familiarity. As it draws to a calming conclusion, I imagined it soundtracking a new take on the opening to 2001: A Space Odyssey, but pushing further and further into the distance.
The duo’s energy and enthusiasm for new discoveries is undimmed and Losing Circles just pushes things way beyond. The future is limitless, but here is just a little glimpse. Pressed in an edition of 200, with a glorious op-art sleeve by Peter Greening, you need to snap these up quick.-Mr Olivetti-
