Exposé Online banner

Exposé Online

Not just outside the box, but denying the existence of boxes.
Covering music from the fringes since 1993.

Reviews

Bass Communion — The Itself of Itself
(Bandcamp Fourth Dimension/Lumberton Trading Company, 2024, CD / 2LP)

by Jon Davis, Published 2025-01-10

The Itself of Itself Cover art

Those who have followed the career of Stephen Wilson know that he’s ventured into a wide range of different styles. Bass Communion is a project that operates at the far edge of his range, with abstract ambient music built of sounds that are often unidentifiable in origin. There are no soaring guitar solos — at least not that you would notice. For all I know, this whole album could be created out of processed guitar solos from Porcupine Tree albums. To be clear, I do not think that’s very likely, but given the possibilities of sonic manipulation available to a creative pro like Wilson, there are virtually no boundaries. The one audio source mentioned in the liner notes is a collection of unwanted studio residue like “tape hiss, wow and flutter, static noise, and sonic break-up.” And a Mellotron, though it doesn’t generally sound like a Mellotron; it’s first detectable on “Apparition 3,” where it sounds like it was recorded underwater, wandering among ambiguous chords like a soundtrack to Captain Nemo’s dreams. “Bruise” presents thirteen minutes of odd sounds punctuated by cavernous thumps at widely spaced intervals; “Blackmail” sounds rather like the backing sounds to a space mission, with filtered voices, washes of noise, rumbling, and the wails of an alien intent on destruction. He lays it on the table with “Study for Tape Hiss and Other Audio Artefacts,” taking the unintended products of other recordings, the parts that are normally discarded or filtered out, and making them the star. Which is not to say that he makes music out of them — it’s a kind of audio collage that is quite fascinating if you’re in the mood for it. The Itself of Itself is more listenable that many of the other projects I’ve heard that were constructed in similar ways, though listeners looking for harmony, melody, and rhythm will be disappointed.

Filed under: New releases, 2024 releases

Related artist(s): Bass Communion, Steven Wilson / I.E.M.

More info
http://basscommunion.bandcamp.com/album/the-itself-of-itself

 

What's new

These are the most recent changes made to artists, releases, and articles.