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Released
1997

Label
SDS Productions

Reviewed by
Michael C. Lund

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Last Edit/Update
06 February, 1998

Various Artists

RETICENCE:
SDS COMPILATION

         
Track Listing

1. White Trash Compactor - Carina
2. Oblivious Scientist - Bloodstream
3. Deluxe - ULTRA 1600 kHz
4. Gene Romanosky - Nine
5. Audio Braille - Delusion
6. Skrank - Sixteen
7. T.E.L.* - y-invitro-x:
8. Panicsville - Wake You Up
9. Sickness - The Sound of Somebody Burning
10. CPI - Leave Me Alone
11. The Onus Edge - n. 66666666666.1
12. I-Tek - Amphibism
13. Mentallo & The Fixer - Psylocybin

*Technocydic Experimentation League

          Reticence is the first release by SDS Productions, in what they herald as the Silence series. The sleeve tells us that this projected series of releases is meant to ". . . expose experimental, ambient and noise artists to the public in order to strengthen the influence of both the bands and the labels, as well as the genres represented herein[,]" and it is by all means a successful first effort. The 13 tracks compiled on this volume are diverse in instrumentation, structure and mood, and thus the compilation never outstays its welcome. The majority of the names featured are little known, but despite the occasional echoes of more established bands, the contributions presented on Reticence generally sound fresh and distinct.

          The volume opens on a strong note with White Trash Compactor's "Carina" -- a very beautiful piece consisting of a distorted guitar theme backed by elegiac atmospherics. "Bloodstream" by Oblivious Scientist has a droning rhythm loop underlying streaming electronics that flirt with the idea, albeit never quite develop into a conventional theme, instead engendering a mood of mystery and wonder.
          The third track -- "Ultra 1600 kHz" by Deluxe -- ventures into noise territory with a wall of static momentarily penetrated by a deep reverberating burr.    Similar ground is covered by Gene Romanosky's "Nine" -- A whirring carpet of static serves as the ground upon which occur various incidents of manipulated voice samples, piercing electronics, and additional grating noises.
          Audio Braille's "Delusions" gradually build from a collection of incidental sounds into a dark symphonic finale. Seemingly random vibrating sounds slowly mutate into a noise-based harmony, while deep crashing beats, at first occurring at great intervals, eventually develop into a heavy dragging rhythm track.
          German Skrank delivers a haunting track of an altogether different kind -- "Sixteen" has a driving, distorted percussion track with additional synth beats whipping in and out of the sound-picture. A high-pitched drilling tone surges and recedes, as a world-weary voice reflects upon being locked up at the age of sixteen. "Sixteen" is an intense and eerie track that marks a definite peak on the compilation.
          On "y-invitro-x," Technocydic Experimentation League counters whimsical, playful electronics with processed vocals that are blacker than ink; the desired effect seems to be to emulate Nivek Ogre's vocal style, and while this does succeed technically, it falls short of creating the intensity of its model. "Wake You Up" by Panicsville is an aural collage -- a melange of sound waves run through a noise-blender.
          Sickness presents a track entitled "The Sound of Somebody Burning," and that is exactly what it sounds like -- a continuous screaming noise attack that would make Merzbow proud. "Leave Me Alone" by CPI, although more varied and structured, is another out and out exploration of the more torturous properties of sound. The Onus Edge leads us into the borderland between torture and pleasure with "n.66666666666.1." The voices of a woman experiencing sexual climax and a man in some state of terror intermingle over a background of such sounds as a crackling fire and various pulses and throbs.
          I;Tek's "Amphibism" marks another highpoint on the compilation -- a weaving tapestry of initially random synthetica slowly evolves into a beautiful ethereal theme. Mentallo and the Fixer closes the ball with "Psylocybin," a -- for them -- rather uncharacteristic landscape of computer generated ambient sounds. The piece consists of long, drawn-out sighs that echo through a fitfully ominous nightmare atmosphere, rising and falling, and inevitably dying out at the end. . .

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