Wilson Tanner / II / Efficient Space

Andrew Wilson and John Tanner team up again, this time for Efficient Space, and take their electroacoustics for a float. Recording on a riverboat and getting super Minimal. The press notes for II cite Berlin as a geographical, musical reference point. Killcord Parts I-III is definitely a Lo-Fi Kosmische trip, set to a fluttering Electronic B-line. Bepe Loda might call it “Afro”. But wasn’t that more Cologne and Dusseldorf? Perhaps, unsurprisingly, I`d offer, instead, Tokyo as a source of inspiration. The overwhelming influence seems to be the Kankyō Ongaku of Hiroshi Yoshimura and Takashi Kokubo. For example check the bleeps and fresh water currents of All Hands Bury The Dead.

Space could be II`s most important instrument. The duo aren’t afraid to hit a note and let it hang there. Have you wondering when the next one`s coming. This surely a sign of their increased confidence. Loose, improvised arrangements for a variety of keys and gamelan-like gongs drift in and out of field-recorded Ambient hum (I`m sure I heard a kitten mewing in there). Circuitry chattering in percussive, tribal, idiophone shapes. Buzzing like an angry fly. A disgruntled bee. Idle has this sound design sucked inside out. Creating an alien landscape of sparse, slow squelches and the “frog chorus” from Gabriel Yared`s Avant take on La Gaité Parisienne. The faint strains of an eerie Sci-Fi theme in the distance. Crossing The Bar evolves into an Eno-esque atmosphere. Safe. Bird. climaxes in Carl Orf via Han Zimmer True Romance chimes. Giving the record its prettiest moment.