It’s a meditation within a meditation, nested inside a larger invocation that defines the essence of Actions Made Audible—a work that firmly places itself within the Berlin School of music. Precision-engineered machinery with analog Mellotron tape loops feature layered structures, ambient textures, and an introspective flow.
Time and space are suspended
When two giants of music collaborate, one could be forgiven for expecting some kind of mashup of their hits or respective talents. This is also perhaps the hardest hurdle to overcome in any collaboration. SÔON‘s Actions Made Audible is a collaboration between Adi Newton of Clock DVA, The Anti-Group and Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto. One prays it is not the last. Both Dangers and Newton are iconic artists, each with legendary tracks and albums in their respective discographies. Both are also known for a specific sound and experience in their music.
What makes Actions Made Audible so remarkable is that its strength lies in how Newton and Dangers complement rather than overpower each other. Across its five tracks, there are few moments where one can easily identify a motif that reveals who contributed what. There are hardly any beats that resemble those of Meat Beat Manifesto—well, maybe disc two of Subliminal Sandwich—nor does Newton’s signature gruff intonation make an appearance anywhere. In fact, any and all obvious vocal elements come from sourced recordings and spoken word. When used to incredible effect—as is the case here—it creates a liminal feeling, a total suspension of being anywhere but someplace in between worlds.
White noise blast and static ::
“Mirage of Spectre Rising” opens the album with a low, shuddering drone and subtle synthetic ticks and twitches when before long a recording of a radio broadcast describing torture inflicted on innocents goes on in shocking, calm tones. This establishes one major part of these songs wherein time and space are suspended as you listen. “Eidolon” opens with a woman’s voice masked in reverb as hazy tones swirl into focus from inchoate clouds. When a hypnotic beat fades in, its power lies in its constancy—an insistence that allows the track to evolve into a numinous form, rising high in the mix and giving the song space to breathe and expand as it unfolds.
“Pharmacopeia of Consciousness” begins with a high, white noise blast and static as a voice describes sounds which may be what the listener also hears though it becomes clear it may very well not be. There’s an agitation at play here, with a brittle, static-like spray drifting from side to side across the stereo field. The experiences described by the speaker matches the unsettled, shifting soundscapes of the track and album as a whole, especially in the latter half which devolves and degrades into wafting fragments of sounds.
Meditation within a meditation ::
The album’s climax could very well be “The Other Self.” Built upon recordings of the late, great Buddhist scholar Alan Watts, Newton & Dangers weave in sublime arpeggiations and pads, creating a space where thought and sound effortlessly flow in, out, through, and beyond each other, with occasional piano notes drifting by. “Seriatim” closes the album with an insistent arpeggio over which the other parts flit and flutter in and out the audible.
It’s a meditation within a meditation, nested inside a larger invocation that defines the essence of Actions Made Audible—a work that firmly places itself within the Berlin School of music. Precision-engineered machinery with analog Mellotron tape loops feature layered structures, ambient textures, and an introspective flow. This is a work of brilliance by two masters that not only demands repeated listening, but amply rewards them.
Experimental radiophonic electronic explorations—indeed! Highly recommended.
Actions Made Audible is available on Electronic Sound. [Bandcamp | Website]
