BEN VIDA

New developments from Ben Vida, featuring percussive virtuoso Tyondai Braxton, and vocals by Sara Magenheimer. The latest in a hot streak of intriguing Vida releases for PAN, Alku, and Future Audio Graphics, 'Slipping Control' derives from a text piece 'Tztztztzt Î Í Í….' which he wrote and was subsequently published as a book by Shelter Press. Using the text as a score or source material, much like Florian Hecker's recent works with Reza Negarastani, and Markus Schmickler & Julian Rohrhuber's 'Politiken Der Frequenz' LP, Vida processes the recitations in varying Control Paths to manifest 21 highly individual and concise pieces of sonic research. They range from strange avant-pop quirks such as 'Part 1' to pieces reminding of classical Indian vocal and drum music, thru to totally compelling computer abstraction and deviant rhythm trax. While the process and ideas are all rooted in academic/artistic thought process, the results are far from crenellated, clearly (yet perhaps intangibly) putting a very human face and sensibility on sheer, advanced computer music. Recommended!

(label info)