h [ ] Collaboration with Kozo Inada It’s tempting, almost unavoidable, to listen to “h [ ]” in a cinematic matter, its relatively brief episodes flashing past one’s ears. But if one does so, that doesn’t make it any more easily graspable, the sonic images possessing a very flickering aspect, defying one to readily make connections between them whether the segues are smooth and subtle or, as is more often the case, abrupt and violent. It opens with a slow, electronic throb soon accompanied by sonorous bells. Here, as throughout, a couple of prominent elements tend to camouflage the presence of two or three more that remain “backgrounded”, patiently waiting to be perceived. One of these, a staticky presence, suddenly wells up and washes away episode 1, landing us in the middle of a crowd of people, a scene that itself swiftly evaporates. This montage method continues over the course of the disc, interspersing field recordings, scrabbling percussive elements and electronic washes, often transitioning by means of similar upswellings of noise. It’s a giddy, nervous approach in that sense, although many of the actual sounds employed are rich and even soothing. This disjunctive character might cause some unease, but also allows for multiple listens where entirely new facets and connections are revealed each time. The concluding section, filled with what seems to be large room resonance, ducks (?!), faint conversation, crunchy footsteps, clicks, high frequency tones, increasing static and more, is redolent with unending imagistic ideas, few of which can be quantified with any clarity. Which I imagine is the point. Good, thoughtful piece of work from Samartzis and Inada. Brian Olwnick - Bagatellen