Out Of This World
Robert Carlberg | Seattle | 01/11/2009
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Pert writes of this piece, "I have been fascinated by things astronomical and cosmological since childhood, and much of my music has been inspired by this (ongoing) interest. Each of the nine pieces [here] represents one of the nine named stars in the constellation of Virgo, and sets out to create a sonic atmosphere around the listener. Use is made of radiophonic and static sound sources as well as pure white noise (all audible frequencies) filtered and treated in various ways. Bell and chime like sounds also occur frequently, (our universe is actually an extremely noisy place - only the near-vacuum of space cushions us from the natural clamour). The work as a whole, however, attempts to convey the overall serenity of the starlit night sky. Violence, semi-tamed."
This is a pretty darn good description of this album, which is less "music" in the conventional sense than it is a mixture of sound effects, explosions, bell-tones, synth chords, marimba-like sounds and some odd honking-like noises. Like the opening and closing sections of Pert's "Orinoco" (from Suntreader's debut album) or his "Chromospheres" (1975) this is pure sonic atmosphering, cutting all moorings to conventional music."