Hey Kidz,

A few things going on this week….

Kobi did an interview for Lunar Hypnosis, you can check it out at http://cp05.ionhosting.com/~joelh/kobiinterview.htm

If Thousands did an interview for Amplitude Equals One Over Frequency
Squared, you can check it out at http://frequencysquared.blogspot.com/2005/11/if-thousands-interview_113338447692103733.html

As some of you may know, March marks the tenth anniversary of Silber.  To celebrate we’re putting together a tribute record collecting covers of songs from any of the Silber releases from the past ten years.  We hope to hear your take on some of our music.  Deadline is February 17, 2006.  Mail submissions to Silber Tribute / PO Box 18062 / Raleigh, NC 27619 / USA

Below are some recent reviews.

Thanks for your interest & support, it means a lot to us.

hrt

Brian John Mitchell

KOBI: DRONESYNDROME

Dronesyndrome is the second album from Norwegian sound artists Kobi, the first being the 2003 album Projecto (see AI #23). The band is actually a collective, headed up by Kai Mikalsen who collaborates with what the promo sheet describes as "virtually the entire Norwegian experimental underground". Each of the 9 tracks on the CD consists of Mikalsen on sounds & synths, teamed up with a variety of artists on guitar, drums, bass, cello, dictaphone, turnatable and accordion.

My favorites tracks are the ones with Kjell Olav Jorgensen's drumming. "Faint Echoes Ran Round the Unseen Hall (Part I)" is a mixture of dark and eerily intense soundscapes with free-jazz drumming and percussion. And "Yellow Scales Slid Across Oily Roles of Flushed Skin" mix a free-improv jazz drumming style with bubbling spaced out underwater soundscapes. Most of the tracks are primarily ambient-drone centric, and all do a good job of blending avant-garde free-improv elements with exploratory sound-art and ambient excursions, and each transitions seamlessly from one to the next, making for a continuous 50 minute listening experience. Climb aboard and ride the drone wave.

~ Jerry Kranitz, Aural Innovations

IF THOUSANDS: I HAVE NOTHING

If Thousands are the duo of Duluth, Minnesota based Christian McShane and Aaron Molina, and joined on this album by members of GST & 2i, as well as Paul Metzger from TVBC. I Have Nothing is the band's second album for the Silber label (see AI #23), though their web site indicates there have been two other albums released since then.

If Thousands uses stringed instruments, electronics, horns, and even what sounds like accordion to create a series of 15 soundscape pieces, plus the occasional ethnic influence. You wouldn't believe the volume of ambient/soundscape submissions I receive, most of which are enjoyable though completely lacking in individuality. So it's refreshing when I hear artists using traditional instrumentation to create atmosphere and mood centered music. Furthermore, If Thousands set themselves apart from the rest by making brief statements in the 2-5 minute range in a genre where lengthy excursions are the norm. While this type of music typically requires room to stretch out and develop its themes, If Thousands succeed by being concise. Whether it's an awareness of limitations or otherwise I can't say, but for this listener the result is a collection of soundscape styled "songs"… a collection of ambient aural short stories to enjoy in a weekend read. This is music you can put on the headphones and just get lost in. It's sparse… yet says so much.