The peculiarity that set him apart from the hordes of noise musicians is the self-imposed limitation of having a single and specific sound source to work with on each album, a strict restriction that he religiously followed for all his immense discography. For example, in the past he tweaked and warped dripping water sounds, shattered glass, metal clanging, the ticking of a clock, various synthesizers and even the sound of bible pages flipping.

For this CD released by U.S. Label Housepig his weapon of choice is feedback. Probably less interesting as concept than some of his other and more bizarre works, yet it’s very effective.

Aube masterfully explores pretty much every possibility of mixer and microphone feedback: from extra-annoying squealing high pitched tones (a sound I'm particularly fond of,  and a pleasure precluded to most ears) to shattered spurting and swooshing; from spacey droning to almost inaudible sub-harmonics.  Each track is finely crafted and composed, with the various layers of sounds balancing each other very well and working perfectly as instruments each fitting its own purpose.

Pacing is always very rhythmic, cohesive and somehow calm and soothing. In fact despite the piercing, unpleasant nature of feedback sound “Variable Ambit” is never too aggressive or too loud,  while it lets the listener appreciate volume variations, sound oscillation and a totally inhuman atmosphere. The variety of sounds obtained, while revealing nothing new to a trained ear, is quite impressive.

In conclusion this is definitely not an album for inexperienced listeners, and even some of the most die-hard noiseheads will find the high pitch tone feast sometimes too much to handle. That being said, it's undeniable that Aube did a great job in composition and  research. Also it's quite clear from the flow of tracks that Mr. Nakajima enjoyed playing and hearing these sounds a lot, which is a great thing in itself. Not in my personal Aube top-list, but still a good and inspiring album. I suggest at least trying it!