Seth Nehil
Tracing The Skin Of Clouds
KAON 5

First release by sound gatherer and organizer Seth Nehil, of the local sound collective, Orogenetics. Much like his peers Mnortham and JGrznich (responsible for The Stomach of the Sky CD and the newly released The Absurd Evidence), Nehil emphasizes the texture of sound in itself, isolated from structure and its surroundings, and then alchemically reconfigured into a new substance.

Cirrus is a microscopic rendering of plate tectonics, which grinds and builds a sense of foreboding, like thunder incubating in clouds of granite. The weather system dissipates, only to rebuild itself in the hell-rattle of Nimbus, which is not far from the malbolge of Xenakis' electroacoustic classic, Bohor.

There is no real climax until about 16 minutes into the final piece, Stratus, where the layers become so enormous and dense that they must finally release themselves. For new recruits into this type of listening, the sounds may appear to be aimless (to say nothing of being scarcely audible at times), yet there are some sublime moments where the disparate threads of gossamer sound really crystallize and bind into a new monument of sound.

Copyright © 1998 Andy Beta