Alexander Rishaug
Panorama
Smalltown Supersound
Occupying a space somewhere between Autechre and Biosphere, the leftfield electronica of Alexander Rishaug doesn’t quit hit the target this time around. Sure, there are a couple of rather fine moments here: The unsettling “Svolvér” is one of them, swinging wildly between glitchy moodscapes and a minimal clicks-and-cuts piece on speed, while the sketchy Orbital-backdrop of “small 05,06,01,02” is another effective track. The brilliant “klk.b” is the best of the lot, though, sounding like one of those cassette-taped C64-games played on loudspeakers in a slowed-down tempo, creating an impression of electronic signals actually communicating with one another in some weird scratchy and screechy language. All in all, though, the album suffers from a few too many mediocre tracks and, more importantly, a lack of clarity and coherency of vision. The album’s title does indicate a manifold of both impressions and expressions, but as it is, Rishaug doesn’t manage to convey those impulses to the listener in a meaningful way, instead producing an album of unfinished ideas and, excluding a few standout moments, a heavy reliance on worn-out solutions.
Smalltown Supersound: http://www.smalltownsupersound.com
