Nicholas Szczepanik — Astilbe Rubra

"Astilbe Rubra plays as a collection of ideas/directions I plan to study and explore. Ultimately I wish to share with listeners my methodology and contributions to the field of sound design and composition", says Nicholas on the infosheet.

It gives a bit of a hint of what's to be expected of this simple but tastefully packaged CDr release. A stately drone like Tire flows into more disturbing swoops and crackles. The piece Convivencia combines snippets of conversation with carsounds and an uneven weezy sound that makes you feel like you're traveling, moving... on a highway, or in space, until the sound breaks up in smaller pieces. Music to paint all kinds of pictures to paint in your head. Echoes is more scary, from ritual bells you are thrown quickly into a disturbing whirring sound. Merci Manu & Sophie is friendlier in nature. The title of Delays - Interference give a clue on which soundsources and -effects the piece is built. Its result reminds a bit of some of James Plotkin's solowork in the mid-nineties until it builds into a noisy finale. On that distorted note Shimmer continues to end with static and eventually a throbbing, uneven heartbeat.

Ambient, found sounds, drone, minimal, musique concrète, noise: this electronic mix forms a excellent debut that is likely to please those who like abstract and subtle soundart, although there's still room to grow and his methodology still is a mystery to me. It's not necessary to enjoy Astilbe Rubra, which is a promising amuse bouche.