In the recent surge of modular synth use, the hardware and the process occasionally overtake the music. Lost is the power of modular systems as tools for composition. In this latest installment of his continuing Modular Works series, Dutch underground maven, Vital Weekly contributor and longtime mastering engineer Jos Smolders corrects this imbalance.
Smolders made this set of four pieces under the influence of the Pierre Henry box set he had recently mastered, and the French auteur’s specter looms large, both in the patience of these compositions and flair for dramatic development. The restrained use of concrete sound and extended field recording excerpts creates an organic dialogue with the carefully crafted synth figures. Matt Wuethrich