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Reviews

Silent Chaos — Macro
(Bandcamp We Don't Give a Fuck, 2020, DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2020-07-08

Macro Cover art

Abstract sound is a difficult thing to pull off, and I can’t count the number of failures I’ve heard in the genre. Silent Chaos manages to do it right on Macro, but the reasons for its success are as nebulous as the music itself. At times during Macro, I was reminded of the evocative soundtrack by Jóhann Jóhannsson for the film Arrival. Marta NoOne (modular synthesizers, vocals, effects, laptop) and Ugo Valentini (electronic and acoustic percussion, loops, samples, field recordings) present intriguing soundscapes from electronic and acoustic sources blended into evocative assemblages. There is very little about it that is musical in a traditional sense, with melodies or beats, but it manages to avoid just sounding like pointless noise. Sometimes there will be a droning modular synth with erratically changing resonance, then there will be a dramatic thump probably sourced from a drum, then eerie echoes of who-knows-what. The video for the opening track, “Nocturne on Ganimede,” provides a good introduction to their esthetic, especially given that visual presentations are part of their normal operation. Another great track is the album closer, “Adonai’s Calling - The Hail of God,” which actually does feature a beat at times, though it’s far from a typical electronic program. Silent Chaos may not be what you want to listen to every day, but with Macro they’ve released one of the finest abstract electronic (or electro-acoustic) albums I’ve heard.

Filed under: New releases, 2020 releases

Related artist(s): Silent Chaos

More info
http://silentchaos.bandcamp.com/album/macro

 

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