The landscape drawn by 39 sound artists working around the radio theme – not necessarily with radio sounds, even if most tracks use them – is one of nebulous and functional extravagance; shortwaves and speech snippets but also electronic currents, concise statements and luminescent memories find their place in compositions of (maximum) 2 minutes length by a who’s who of contemporary sonic sculptors. Not surprisingly, the overall concept permeates the music with a peculiar brand of micro-organic continuity which acts like a glue among the tracks, so that the whole package (also including a DVD fusing images and sounds) constitutes a welcome essential document of modern art that gains weight and purpose with additional listenings. I know it’s absurd to single out names in such instances, but Christine Fowler’s “2 minutes” and Heitor Alvelos’ “Had a scanner been born on the Bosphorous” deserve a special mention for their alluring textural construction. Yet, this CD must absolutely be enjoyed as if coming from a single composer.
Massimo Ricci