Various Artists — Wiener Wasser

Exploring the similarities between water and sound, the artists craft their pieces with dynamic textures, lush synthesis, and hypnotic rhythms. Ten years in the making, the Wiener Wasser collection exhibits four works by artists heavily devoted to their crafts, giving us an intriguing and engaging piece of electronic sound art.

 

Four artists presenting one track each, Wiener Wasser is a pretty quick hitter, coming in just around twenty minutes. The digital version features an additional Programmverdichter track, which gives the listener a little more bang for the buck. Starting with "Entlastung/Gerinne," Programmverdichter (Julian Rubisch) mixes deep rippling currents and sonar pings to give this aquatic tale its essence. Waves move and transform, propelling the song forward, like a fishing boat looking for its quarry. Subtle and throbbing, the current rises to the surface, with noisy breaks crashing like the foam on the bow of a ship. RENT comes next with "Gravity," and changes the tone of the album quickly and deftly. Heavy, thick synths reverberate with an industrial edge while lighter notes reflect off like moonlight on a rippling lake. A repetitive pulse emerges, feeling like the lake's heartbeat as the waves hit the boats docked on the shore. The depth of the synths hints at the darkness below, the reflected light deceptively fooling the listener with its siren song. Flipping the record, GLAST drops the microphone into the lower depths, with "Donauhertz" capturing the submarine sounds and watery transmissions. One can almost feel the pressure of being down this deep, fully submerged with limited sensory input. The oscillating waves come from all directions, nothing is near, and you're lost, far below the surface. Continuing the dance in the deep, Electropia wraps up the album with "Entsiegelt die Böden." Increasing the desolation and despair, the final track is just isolation and atmosphere with no outside communication. The most minimal of the pieces, this one needs to be played loudly to catch the details afloat. For those with the digital version (which is also provided with the vinyl via download card), Programmverdichter returns with "Anthropocene." The synthiest of the bunch, this one's rife with oscillations, waves, and thick textures. Almost like an amalgamation of all the other tracks, "Anthropocene" takes a look at water and waves in a controlled setting, like something out of a lab in a sci-fi film. Moving and shaking, this one feels a little more directionless than the others, but has really interesting sounds involved.

 

Wiener Wasser may have taken ten years to materialise, but the four Viennese artists put their all into their pieces, making the album well worth its abbreviated run time. Our lives are dependent on water, not only for survival but for trade, travel, and resources, and the songs contained give unique, sonic perspectives at this life-giving liquid. More on the subdued side, Wiener Wasser's varied electronic approaches work insidiously, gaining footholds with further listens, wearing away at the listener like an eroding beach under eternally crashing waves. To find out more