Experimental Audio Research
Phenomena 256

THE REVIEW

The Experimental Audio Research is a group unknown to many, but truly deserving a place in the pantheon for those like me who adore psychedelia all-encompassing. More than "making" music, I would say they paint through a skillful use of electronics and filtered guitar/noise feedback, creating frescoes (translated into moods by the listener) that possess a crystalline warmth... In short, a sound that leads one to be transported into the deepest space without any negative sensation, but simply lulling in the flow of chemical, narcotic-induced textures, between modulations and effects, distortions, and dreamlike surges. A deep yet abstract space where music and emotions are kneaded not only thanks to the acoustic technique acquired but also by imagining other mo(de)s.

The band is a kind of supergroup (though it makes me smile to call it that): Pete Kember (Spacemen 3), Pete Bain (Spacemen 3), Kevin Martin (God), Eddie Prevost (AMM... does anyone remember them? A legendary free-noise group from the late '60s), Kevin Shields (My Bloody Valentine) plus an almost endless list of credits, one of which reads "voltage control adviser"... I haven't written what each person plays on the record because here everyone plays everything even though, for instance, Martin is famous for being a saxophonist and Prevost a percussionist. The mind behind this alien music is still Pete "Sonic Boom" Kember, who, having resolved his drug issues (I personally doubt...), has dedicated heart and soul to this creature of his. Mutate the Tangerine Dream of their golden period into something even less anchored to an orthodox sound structure, add the truly experimental approach that E.A.R. have towards music, and you'll have a small and rough summary of how a record of this genre might sound (?).

So experimental, I was saying, that the latest album by "ours" is considered a classic of circuit-bending, an artistic-musical scene where unconventional yet rigorous experimenters generate intricate sounds by modifying the electronics of old equipment, essentially toys equipped with old synthesizers. In the case of "Data Rape", the latest challenging (yet also bewitching) work involves 1970s translators from Texas Instruments, more precisely the "Speak and Spell" series. Phenomena 256 reaches levels of sound and auditory experimentation not so extreme but certainly more pleasant and compact in its essence. However, here's no shortage of strokes of genius (or madness?) here either. The band plays in some tracks with new techniques (it's '96). For example, "Sub Aqua/Tidar/Lunar"—ten minutes of cosmic delirium—are three compositions in one: a static drone in the left channel, a mutant drone in the central channel, and a fuzz distortion in the right. Tracks like "Delta 6 (Hydrophonic)" and "Phenomena 256" are also recorded to combine three different pieces, each in a different channel of the mix. Listen, play with the balance, and let me know the effect it has. In "Space Themes, pts 1 & 2 (tribute to John Cage in C, A, G, E)," the subtitle of the song explains everything: a tribute to Cage using only the initials of his name as notes. A sort of joke, although the song leaves you stunned with its pure and dreamlike sonic-noise mantra. Simply a group that makes innovation and research a religion. And whether these interstellar journeys are pleasing or not makes me adore them viscerally. We are almost at the end of the record (I'm writing while listening), and "Spacestation" arrives, and raise your hand if hearing such a "mutant thing" doesn't make you believe you are indeed in a space station surrounded by the darkest void.

Ideal situation to listen to Phenomena 256: serene mood, clouded mind (preferably by psychotropic substances), relaxed limbs, absolute darkness.