The title of this disc might lead you to believe that it's some sort of hyper-sample-fest a la John Oswald's Plunderphonics. Well, it's not! Although Band uses recorded sounds in these five pieces, they're generally environmental field recordings as opposed to samples from songs or films.
Rather than look to pop culture for her sonic inspiration, Band seems to gravitate toward the sounds of everyday life: trains, swing sets, birds, radiators, leather jackets. While this may seem a bit mundane, there's a long tradition of using environmental sounds (both in the sense of "natural sounds" and in the sense of what we hear every day) as source materials for composition. From the noisy machines of the Italian Futurists to the musique concrete of the mid Twentieth Century to Cage and Fluxus and beyond, many artists have been attracted to the idea that interesting sounds don't always have to be manufactured; if you take the time to listen, you'll realize that you're already surrounded by a world of strange and lovely noises.
The pieces on this disc span Band's career, from 1976 to 1998. They're of two general types: layered environmental recordings and live performance pieces. Although I'm not usually a big fan of the former (aka "tape music"), the tape pieces here are generally more interesting than the performances. The performances end up feeling a bit lightweight and contrived next to the deeply affecting structures Band builds up in her tape works.
"Railroad Gamelan" is Band's best known work. It's an absorbing and dramatic mix of train sounds, including railroad crossings, bells and train whistles. "Swinging Sings" is a piece for two violins in which the players very ably simulate the sounds of a squeaky swing set. The hisses, burbles and squeals of "Radiatore" will sound familiar (and maybe maddening!) to anyone whose apartment is heated by an old school steam radiator. "Closet Bird" has birds. Lots and lots of birds. Finally, "Minimally Tough" is a binaural recording (for super-localized sound when using headphones) of a bunch of creaking leather jackets.
This isn't the kind of CD you put on when you need to get a lot of work done; once I'm sucked into Band's clanging, hissing, squeaking world I'm much more likely to want to just sit around and explore the patterns in my desktop than I am to wash the dishes!
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