seven

A/H is Niko Skorpio, who also heads Finland's fascinating Some Place Else label. The third release from this project is a dual MP3/CDR release, utilizing the catalog number as its title. The only difference between the two versions is that the CDR has a bonus track... of course, the bonus track is 46 minutes long, making the acquisition (if possible--I believe it is out of print) both a mandatory as well as fruitless venture, so cherish the MP3. What A/H specialize in is hyper-tweaked (almost) glitch abstractions/minimal techno excursions that claim to use the natural sounds of the electronics in the construction of the songs. What differentiates A/H from the hordes of like-minded electronic experimentalists, is the way the tracks incorporate an organic quality, as well weird smooth edges, even amidst decidedly choppy sonic disarray. Each track plows distinctly different terrain, though all of it works well together. "017_001ekar" opens with a fluid, though nervous, synth line, upon which compressed, jittery electronic distortions are regurgitated as squiggly belches from the throat of sound. Brisk, rumbling tapping is methodically dissected by scalpels of high-pitched sound during "017_0034614." The bonus track, "017_05____," treks through throbbing fields of rippling static. As the track progresses, the mutation of the initial sounds (a sensation like weight, mass, being dragged toward some ominous finality) is corrupted/melded into many sonic shapes. These shapes include fluttering, insect-like vocalizations, swirling currents of unknown radioactive matter intent on scratching the unreachable itch, volatile whirlpools of ejaculatory disorder (an exhaustive flow of writhing electronic sperm), and much more. Imaginative, quirky sound manipulations well worth seeking out. Check out the MP3 tracks at kaaos.org/ah.