Insulation, by Oren Ambarchi

Insulation

by Oren Ambarchi

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1.	Preamble 00:16	buy track
2.	Murmur 03:47	buy track
3.	Snork 14:26	buy track
4.	Lungs 03:47	buy track
5.	Simon 02:42	buy track
6.	Stratagem 05:01	buy track
7.	Study No. 1 03:20	buy track
8.	Study No. 3 04:37	buy track
9.	Concurrents 02:54	buy track
10.	La Notte 04:06	buy track
11.	L'Eclisse 05:52	buy track

about

Like his peers Main, Dean Roberts, James Plotkin, Fennesz and Pimmon, Sydney based artist Oren Ambarchi's work is rooted in an exploration of the guitar. Eschewing its popular usage, Ambarchi re-routes the instrument into a zone of alien abstraction where it's no longer easily identifiable as itself. Instead it's a laboratory for extended sonic investigation.

Insulation is a well-focused, neatly varied work that falls somewhere between the concrète constructions of Tod Dockstader and the abstract soundscaping of Pan Sonic or the Mego crew. Each track is a self-contained entity exploring fresh terrain - from chaotically layered clashes to eerie, isolationist incursions - even as it gets along with its neighbours. Most surprising is how Ambarchi avoids any form of computer processing or editing.

Dense with activity, "Study No. 3" consists of manic, obsessively layered bursts of sound:splinters and shards of punctuation exploding across one another in a brilliant riot, like a roomful of chattering, self-activating electronic toys, or choppy strings of code being pulled from the ether. Avoiding repetition, Ambarchi's spatial awareness is impeccable. "Simon" strings an assortment of of carefully processed events around a series of pauses, while "Lungs" forms a clever collage of locked-groove clicks, bleeps, bassy tone bursts and background flicker.

With plenty of low end activity, the album has a particularly visceral impact. Waves and smears of heavy bass wash against the body or burst outwards in sudden, shuddering jolts. Drones distort and spear outwards as irritants, while the layers of micro-activity bristle and barb against the skin.

credits

released November 30, 1999

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about

Oren Ambarchi Australia

Oren Ambarchi is a composer and multi-instrumentalist with longstanding interests in transcending conventional instrumental approaches. His work focuses mainly on the exploration of the guitar, "re-routing the instrument into a zone of alien abstraction where it’s no longer easily identifiable as itself. Instead, it’s a laboratory for extended sonic investigation". (The Wire, UK). ... more

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