Like many artists concentrating their efforts on noise and drone, Haptic are an enigmatic bunch. And also similar to others in the field, they’re a prolific bunch as well. However, I’m not sure others could boast such varied instrumentation:
A-Bitrman, Acousticon hearing aid, A-E2, air conditioner, bass drum, baoding balls, bows (cello and violin), cassette recorders, contact microphones, crotales, cymbals, DS-1, EHX-2880, e-bow, electric fan, electric bass, fabric, floor tom, found home recordings, FX42-B, GE-7, guitars, harmonica, hurdy gurdy, laptop computer, lapsteel, leaf, location recordings, marbles, metronome, ME-50, MF-105M, MX802A, open circuits, oscillator, paper (various weights), parade drum (bass), pianos (baby grand, concert grand, Rhodes), portable CD players, PS-5, radio, record player, recorder telephone pickups, RV-3, sand, sewing machine, snare drum, sparklers, strobe light, tone chimes, tuning forks, wineglass, wire brush, wooden clothespin
Now, I have as much knowledge of the intricate sounds of an “Acousticon hearing aid” as the next person, yet each item on the list seems to have its own cameo in Haptic’s tenth release, coordinated by Entr’acte and FSS. The result is a phenomenally complex and arid drone sound that is constantly and subtly changing. What begins as an ambiguous, warm chord mutates into what sounds like the vents of a deserted office block (something like these guys) before wailing sine waves and other screaming pitches kick in. As an anagram of silence, the title of the record hopes to portray the way sound and silence are never created, but merely reordered into new forms. So, for me, it’s hats off to the air conditioner, which I’m quite sure is the star player after having been arranged to create this disturbing and fascinating soundscape.
• FSS: http://www.flingcosound.com/FSS_016.html
• Entr’acte: http://www.entracte.co.uk/project/haptic-e127
More about: Haptic
