Concubine
2018
Concubine
Ah, those clever electronica mixers from Berlin are back to their old ways. Noah Pred, possibly the most prolific electronica composer working today, has pulled together a full album of material along with the equally productive Rick Bull. These are the sort of behind-the-scenes guys who never step into the spot light but keep re-arranging the noises at their disposal to make a moderately interesting album that explores many oblique corners of the ambient soundscape.
Titles only loosely tie to beats; “Hail, Eros” centers a rhythmic drumming in form of synthetic animal calls that threaten to make a nearly danceable track. “Electoral Reforms” pulses and throbs in a scratchy world where not only are vote totals uncertain, but so are the names on the slate of candidates. It’s urgent without an arrival time and leaves you one edge. One more title that catches my eye in this collection is “Priceless Neglect.” We once more stand in front of the electro-sound machine, replete with well-oiled push arms, resilient pistons, and the smell of early century industrialism: lube oil, coal smoke, and the stink of poorly smelted iron. We live in tough and sometime senseless times, but we must concede this: most mornings, the lights come on and the john flushes. So, something still works.
