Search - Bill Laswell, Atom Heart, Tetsu Inoue :: Second Nature

One plus one plus one equals...

Rinchen Choesang | Melbourne, Australia | 12/12/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"
On the darker, or more experimental side of ambient, there are some names that regularly pop up here and there - Atom Heart, Tetsu Inoue and Bill Laswell being three of them.



Having bought Datacide's 'Flowerhead' (Datacide consisting of the first two of the above artists) on the Asphodel label, and thoroughly enjoyed it, I was determined to get my hands on a copy of this. It surfaced through one of Amazon's partner sellers at a very reasonable price and I just received it today. The 30 second sound-bites were just a lukewarm teaser - this is a very well produced album that showcases the talents of these three electro-maestros extraordinarily well.



There is an eclectic and enagaging mix of soundscapes and ambient drones from Atom and Tetsu, expertly fused with by Bill's stylish deep bass rhythms and the odd sample, all of which hold interest throughout (despite three of the four tracks being over fifteen minutes in duration - actually, span would be a kinder word, given the quality of this offering). Fans of Steve Roach, Jeff Greinke, Synaesthesia, Lustmord and their ilk will enjoy this album.



I can't say I've had any exposure to Atom Heart's music other than the Datacide album, but as far as the other two go, try:



Tetsu Inoue:



- 'Instant Enlightenment' (as 'Om' - tending towards ambient techno trance, but more engaging than much of that genre - unavailable now?)

- 'Organic Cloud' (a 'spacier' album, but much classier than much run-of-the-mill space muzak)

- 'Audio' (a concept album in conjunction with Charles Uzzell-Edwards and Daimon Beail - an intriguing and engaging mix of electronica and environmental/voice samples from San Francisco streets)



Bill Laswell:



- 'Outland 3' (with Pete Namlook - 'spacy', with a couple of annoying, but thankfully brief, voice samples; a well-wrought album at any rate and worth its modest price)

- 'The Psyhconavigation Collection' (again with Pete Namlook - a 5 album set on one MP3 CD - fabulous spacy electronic music-making and an absolute bargain at less than the cost of 2 CDs - the high-definition MP3 sound quality is excellent, with no audible distortion - no mean thing given Bill's plumming of the bassy depths on many tracks!)

- 'Ambient Compendium' (a fascinating 2CD album of darker ambient collaborations with the likes of Pete Namlook, Tetsu Inoue, Jah Wobble and Jonah Sharp - CD one is mainly soundscapes, while CD two is more beat driven)



THIS ALBUM IS FANTASTIC - THERE ARE STILL USED COPIES AVAILABLE THROUGH AMAZON PARTNERS AT REASONABLE PRICES AS I WRITE THIS. AN EXCELLENT ADDITION TO A COLLECTION OF ELECTRO-AMBIENT ECLECTICA!"