Christina Kubisch - Five Electrical Walks [Important Records - 2008]After the recent excellent reissue of Christina Kubisch’s Night Flights masterpiece from 1987, Five electrical walks sees her returning with a new work- built around,as the title suggest walks around city spaces with wireless headphones on that pick up aboveground and underground Electromagnetic fields. And though this may sound a little dull on paper the pieces here are often surprisingly rhythmic,musically and atmopshric. All the tracks here have been mixed and I guess balanced to some extent but there has been no electronic manipulation or structural changers done so these stand as the walks went. The pieces are made up of gligthly like sound maps going that go from: crackles, pops, beeps, feedback hazes and the later tracks going more into longer electro drone type textures. The opening track Homage to Minimal Disinformation has a very hectic, rhythmic and almost funky vibe to it bringing to mind a more fun take on Raster-Noton type electo work-outs,the track was recorded in New york city on a summers day in Times square. Then going to the other end of the spectrum we have the last track Night Shift which has a very creepy and nocturnal vibe to it- built around slowly forming drone textures and smaller beeps & pops with this begin made up from several recordings made late night in airports, train stations etc.
Though not as instant,appealing or strange as Night Flights, Five electrical walks is an interesting project/album that does reward replays and ultimate makes you ponder about noise all around us, the rhythm of the world and if a truly silent place still existences in our world.    Roger Batty
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