reviews

OR01 Wilt: Obscure Geometries

"Obscure Geometries" is the first official release of Wilt on his new label Organic Conversations. This one man project from America uses various sampled sounds in order to create noisy ambient tracks. The insert coming with this CDR says, for example, that if the first two pieces were made with piano sounds, "Fig 196, a series of tangent arcs" is originally sounds from cactus and stones, and "f.163, to draw a spiral of archimedes" is made up of sounds coming from a cappucino machine.

The tracks on "Obscure Geometries" are pretty diverse, ranging from soft ambience ("A point parallel to a line") to more noisy assault ("Geometrical constructions for voice and feedback"). However, they all seem to be built around the well though use of a small number of sounds intertwined with silence. "Fig 119, to bisect an angle", for example, has sometimes almost 30 seconds of silence between two tunes, and the whole CD sounds very "ethereal" (not in the dark wave goth sense, but rather in the fact that the material doesn't sound heavy nor continuous).

Both obscure and abstract but resulting in true beauty, "Obscure Geometries" reminds me of the recent "(de)constructed Ghosts" by Vox Barbara (but in far less noisy and grinding sense) in the sense that this is music done with weird elements and arranged in an elegent assemblage of noises and ambiances. Absolutely not violent, but carrying an original sense of decay and urban sadness (of wilting, perhaps). "The transference of irregular figures" is spacey and echoed, whereas "Fluid applications for sphers" is a very mood track.

Fragile and sad, "Obscure Geometries" is a good album, that makes me want to hear more from Wilt. Apart from the usual, more brutal, noise production, this small item contain an elegant ambient edge that sounds very Interesting.

Nicolas, December 1, 2000

Recycle Your Ears

TF4 WILT - THE BLACK BOX AESTHETIC: Zeitgeist Movement 1
After much teeth gnashing, Wilt's first cd release is available. Deriving
influence from minimal electronics to death industrial, Wilt rips apart all
categories of noise/ambient/whatever. Dark, cavernous, noisy, hypnotizing,
droning; simply incredible, this disc is a leap for dark electronic music.
Quite simply a beautifully crafted vision, utilizing natural sounds, synth,
guitar, and whatever Mr. Keeler could get his hands on, this disc is sure to
be classic.

Matt Gibney, The Rectrix