Aesthetically, Palace is not something one could characterize as soothing or easy listening, nor should it be considering its heritage. The fact of unannounced squeals and bleeps keeps listeners on their toes: the ground, as it were, of this stroll through the cosmos. In addition to the piano recordings and electronics, Badrutt includes samples of his daughter, enabling a productive contrast of the human voice with the atonal miasma that engulfs it. Broken into two long pieces, "In" and "Out", respectively, the latter of the two is the real star of the show and puts the brutal chaos of Badrutt's palette on full display, with ear-piercing frequencies, as the swarm of electronic noise devours everything in its wake. A tiny beacon of light emerges at the very end of Palace, though its form is not that of resolution nor conclusion. Rather, we are leaving this palace of plentitude for something more open and therefore unknown.

 

Fans of Ives, early atonal music, and truly challenging listening that demands near unwavering attention, will find Palace extremely rewarding. Others familiar with Badrutt and/or new music variations on electroacoustic composition will find much to appreciate here.