David Beardsley- Sonic Bloom
13 limit just intonation synthesizer

Why do some reviews take so damn long to eventuate? This one had been started many months ago, but for what ever reason had been put off, terminated, re started, scrunched up in frustration and generally forgotten. It's just that sometimes I am at a loss to put into words exactly what it is that I am hearing. This is a dangerous sound composed of low drones, alien and alienating, trance like patterns of sounds, at times a continuation of Eno and Fripp's No Pussyfooting / Evening Star, back in those early days of experimental electronic musics, where it appeared that in order to create 'something', it appeared to the novice listener (me) that what was really happening was chaos and destruction of sorts using
sound. In essence DB is just as effective with his tonal worlds as someone like Robert Rich, though the main difference is that his world is not as obvious or 'pretty' as that of Rich. At the same time there are elements of harmonic chant as well, those long sheets of sound that go right through you and leave you feeling fantastic . Maybe even a hint of Alan Lamb with his outback telegraph poles swaying in the winds, recordings of incredible beauty and mystique. DB's world is a raw one, where the 'sound' is
unrecognizable, (processed I assume) till it becomes paradoxically, ugly and beautiful at the same time. It is precisely this ugly beauty that captivates me to listen to it for hours on end. How odd. My friends say they can make me recordings of their refrigerators which sound better than this. Cruel, but it must be one mother of a fridge. But it does get back to having the patience to sit and listen and be actively involved. DB strikes me as being an intelligent person. He is involved with Juxtaposition Ezine, regularly gets involved in more than a number of discussion groups on the
net, knows a lot more about microtonal music than I will ever know in my time (check out his web site for more info) and from time to time takes the Sonic Bloom show on the road, so to speak. This release brings up a range of feelings and emotions within me, for what ever reasons, but in terms of interesting releases for 1999, it rates with many a great recording I have been fortunate enough to have heard.

Best Wishes

Hans Stoeve
c/o Power Spot 89.7FM
Sydney, Australia

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