Todd Anderson-Kunert — Conjectures

Composed entirely on a Moog System 55 Synthesizer, Todd Anderson-Kunert's latest, Conjectures, is his first for Room 40. And, based on the number of synthesizers on hand in their Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio, this won't be the last. Letting the Moog 55 flow through him, Conjectures is the sound of one man's relationship with a machine, their conversations, empathic connections, and deepest secrets. Like My Dinner With Andre for the electronic world, Todd Anderson-Kunert's Conjectures reveals a lot about both participants without being overstated.

Displayed through two, long form pieces, Conjectures conveys the interaction between a man and a machine. Less Terminator and more Cherry 2000, their feelings for each other are open to all as the two intertwine, sharing their thoughts and feelings, tendencies and habits, being both timeless and in the moment. Conjectures can be described as a "conversation" because it feels less like a person manipulating one side of things to get a reaction, but more like a flow with give and take, and both sides being present to offer ideas and suggestions on how to proceed with their combined aims. Droning but never monotonous, Conjectures feels like an awakening of sorts, with eyes opening (be they flesh or mechanical) to see light for the first time, and subsequent discussion about reality. What is real? What is imagined? The shift between eyes to mouth, seeing to conversing takes place between the two aptly named songs, "I See What You Mean" and "It Feels Right." The former plays out more of an slow, information gathering session, with the listener along for the journey. Receptors are open and absorbing, and all the external stimuli are being processed for the track to follow. With the data on hand, the conversation can begin in earnest, and Todd Anderson-Kunert and the Moog System 55 discuss the factors that they need, slowly, honestly, and allow the listener to eavesdrop on their findings.

Completely devoid of the chaotic bleeps and bloops of modular noodling, Todd Anderson-Kunert's Conjectures is a man learning the machine not for what the machine can provide him, but for what the machine feels inside. Existential experimental electronics? Call it whatever you'd like, it doesn't change the engaging intimacy presented on this album.