Pylone- Black Grains

Artist: Pylone
CD Title: Black Grains
Label: Sound On Probation
Reviewer: Matthew Johnson
Date: 4/30/06

A new project from the relatively new French noise label Sound On Probation, Pylône's work is ambient electronic noise with an emphasis on clicks and chirps over the usual distortion and reverberation. More organic and insectoid than industrialized or menacing, the album starts out with bass-heavy clicks and static on "Equation, Part.1" before moving into more conventional -- by noise standards, at least -- wash of deep, rumbling feedback, albeit one decorated with a higher-pitched buzzing reminiscent of cicadas, on "Look, Part.3." "Transmission," a sort of centerpiece to the album, is an epic twenty-five minute exploration of evolving tonal modulations and stereo fuzz, laced with clicks that are less like insects than the sonic data of a Geiger counter moving into a radioactive area, which adds a hint of menace to an otherwise soporific ambient track. "Line 4" is similarly electronic, with analog tones and buzzes panning slowly across the stereo channels, while "Echo" closes things out with a more randomized sampling of electronic effects. At fifteen minutes, it's another epic-length offering, and it's one of the album's most interesting, sounding at once somehow computerized and organic, and its vaguely cheerful blips and bleeps evoke the image of some carefree artificial intelligence cavorting lazily within some old-fashioned MIDI sequencer. An interesting opus, all things considered, so check this one out if you enjoy minimalist noise compositions with a focus on atmosphere over confrontation.

Visit the label, Sound On Probation, at www.soundonprobation.com for more information about this release.