Susurrus
Gengseng, 2023
8/10
The Canadian composer and musician Anthony Tan is well versed in abstract electronica and the stirring sounds of the piano, and here across a pair of lengthy compositions he makes for very experimental and exciting textures.
“endlessnessnessness” starts the listen with a chilling ambience, as the well timed keys align with a slow burning dissonance that’s cinematic, sonically challenging, and manipulates space and tension with incredible control of the mood amid the buzzing bouts.
The other track, “sublime subliminal sublimate”, carries a very hypnotic quality that weaves in and out of thumping drum sounds, mesmerizing piano progressions and blurry electronica that possess the capacity for being glitchy, ominous and oblique.
A highly inventive display of organic versus synthetic ideas, Tan mashes signal processing, synthesized models, sampling and field recordings into the piano improvisation with fascinating results.
Travels well with: Christopher Butterfield- Souvenir; Joseph Petric- Seen