Editions Mego – EMEGO 133
Precision is the key with Mark Fell’s work, and things couldn’t be any
more precise than his latest album, Periodic Orbit Of Dynamic System
Related To A Knot, which comprises two tracks, entitled This and That,
each lasting precisely twenty-three minutes and sixteen seconds.
Equally, the music presented here, whilst sourced from various projects,
is, as ever, extremely dynamic and clean cut, and the result of
extensive digital processing. In fact apart for the sound of a Mac Mini
failing to load a DVD and a Pi Saw flute, the entire album was recorded,
mixed and edited via MIDI.
Mark Fell first came to attention in the late nineties as one half of
SND, a project he set up with Mat Steel, with three albums released in
four years on Mille Plateaux, with a fourth album published two years
ago on Raster-Noton. With his solo project, Fell has continued to
explore the possibilities of digital processing, most prominently in the
last couple of years on a series of releases for Editions Mego and
Raster-Noton.
Although only comprising two side-long tracks, the music on this album
is sourced from a wide variety of projects, from previously unreleased
material, live versions or outtakes. Fell also used parts of a
quadriphonic piece originally composed for Barcelona’s Supersimetria and
presented earlier this year. The two tracks are arranged into sequences
of various lengths and appearance, some extremely syncopated and
hectic, others much more sequential and regulated. The transitions
between these segments are for the most part extremely obvious as Fell
juxtaposes them somewhat abruptly, yet as they are often collated from
similar sound sources, it is actually surprisingly easy to loose one’s
bearings and succumb to the strange hypnotic aspect of this work. At
times however, Fell opts for more subtle alterations, as he
progressively erodes one set of patterns and builds up another until the
conversion is complete.
Both tracks follow similar patterns, alternating between moments of
intense digital assaults, some fairly succinct, others, like the one
opening This, expanding over longer periods, and calmer sections, where
digital stuttering makes way for more subtle sequences. This is often in
these quieter moment that Fell’s intricate work becomes much easier to
appreciate as he reveals how sounds actually interact with each other
and at times alter the course of a track drastically by way of repeat
sonic mutations.
Like previous records, Periodic Orbit… can at times feel extremely cold
and devoid of human touch, yet the music actually appears to react to
changes in very organic fashion, continuously evolving from one sequence
to the next, at times smoothly, at others more suddenly. Perhaps due to
its seamless set up, this album may well be Mark Fell’s most hypnotic
release to date.
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