Various – Silhouette Cameo 3

Courier Sound

Back in 2018, while creating sleeves for Graham Dunning‘s keg/Bulkhead release, Stuart Bowditch recorded the sounds of the Silhouette Cameo 3 plotter cutter and then offered it as basis for other artists to record a response. Now, if like me you have ever worked in an office and been surrounded by the rhythmic, mechanised sounds of copiers, printers, bursters, plotters and the like, you may have found these sounds to be fairly welcoming — and to find an album were each track uses a sound like this as an essential component is a really great idea.

The sound of the machine itself is quite a complicated one, with plenty of different elements for the artists to use, but Isnaj Dui‘s opener to the album uses the familiar rhythmic clunk as the beat against which melancholy woodwind is cast. The rhythm sits at the back, guiding the woodwind and it is a lovely combination, with the woodwind evoking subtle, panoramic vistas. Robin Saville ups the tempo dramatically, and continues the romantic and escapist feel with a touch of vibes on his “In Jeff’s Garden”. There is something really human about the sound of industry here, but Viridian takes the beat and slows it right down, merging it with drifting, half-remembered sounds. This is distant and gauzey, with the machine taking on an almost sepulchral feel, evoking an abandoned chapel, derelict and forgotten.

It is interesting how different artists have chosen to highlight different sections of the machine’s selection of sounds. Kevin Buckland‘s “Silhouette” turns into a squelchy miasma of conversational tones; strange communiques, but with a friendly feel, while the high-pitched drone of The Humble Bee‘s “Sitting In A Shed” begs the question where is the original sound. You find yourself searching for it in the gradual awakening as sunlight appears through spaceship windows, everything moving without gravity. A rhythm does eventually appear and maybe that is the machine making a belated appearance.

Another drone, though earthbound, on Wil Bolton‘s “Intersect” is allied to the sounds of that hydraulic machine in Aliens. This drone is more early morning and dreamlike and at times the Silhouette is more akin to a typewriter here; whereas Dead Circuit‘s “Processed Granules” sounds like a steam engine being reproduced on a wobbleboard. It is really simple and effective, but the machine kind of sounds sad when it is slowed down like this. This track continues through various different sections, unwilling to let go, while the glitchy discomfort of Eumig‘s “Tensor” doesn’t hang around for very long and its sunrise drone and Aphex Twin nods bear little resemblance to the source material.

I really enjoyed searching the tracks for the source elements and at times I struggled to find them. The fuzzy, overwhelming distortion of Rorquals‘ “Magma” twists into lachrymose organ tones. It feels as though we are searching through underground caverns, the drip of ancient water and the slow movement of the earth mixing with the machine’s tones slowed down to a grim, insistent drone. Mugwood‘s “High Water Overnight” is dark and foreboding like a factory at night. Here, the machine is slow and soft, with all the sharp sounds somehow rounded off. The juxtaposition with the harsher foreground clatter and jet distortion is rather great, and it is left to Bowditch to see us out with his metallic-edged drone and piano droplets surfing the hinterland between harsh and soft.

This album is great idea which has worked out perfectly. The loose connection of the printer has drawn together eleven incredibly diverse soundscapes that would work well anyway without the added interest of the Silhouette. Silhouette Cameo 3 is well worth investigating and as ever is beautifully packaged, complete with letter confetti from the hard work of the machine itself.

-Mr Olivetti-