Disquiet
The latest free EP from 12k.com’s Term sublabel is a three-track live set by Alessandro Canova, who records as Mugen. The music was recorded like at Fabrica, the Benetton Research and Development Communication Centre, outside Treviso, Italy, on October, 25, 2002. With their lingering pulses of ethereal hum, these are among the loveliest releases yet from Term, which specializes in fragile sound works. The tracks are labeled Parts 1, 4 and 5. Two are about three and a half minutes long (Parts 1 and 5), and the third (Part 4) is a little over a minute and a half. Part 1 has a distant, white-noise groove like the locomotion of a nanotech train engine. Part 4 has, for its rhythm, an initial string of Geiger counter-like static, which gives way to extended long, round tones. Part 5 is distinguished by its opening, a light rupture of irritated beats, a cross between the locked groove at the end of a vinyl LP and the internal workings of a computer; eventually this beat-like material is joined by elegiac synth tones. Term says of Mugen’s music, “In 1999 Canova started experimenting with sine waves and white noise as his only sound sources, developing a special interest in a micro sounds aesthetic. Influenced by his studies on Asian arts he aims to create a meditative dimension: a contemplation of sound that lucidly expresses a refinement of the frequencies.” Marc Weidenbaum