Alva Noto – Xerrox Vol.1

For a compelling first listening experience, my suggestion is to skip the Astoria tracks; they provide little insight and instead detract from the flow of this otherwise perfect album. Dive right into the sizzling, fuzzy, ultra-world of Alva Noto's Haliod Xerrox Copy in this recommended order: Copy 1 > 6 > 2 > 4 > 9 > 3 > 11 > 111 (i.e. tracks 10, 7, 6, 2, 14, 4, 9 and 12). All of the "copies" are amazing gems of mathematically-precise High Art. Listen as warm buzzes of white noise embalm moody strings, as metallic bells resonate their death-knells through a desert of static electricity, as synth-strings heave a meditative mantra by employing hypnotic compositional techniques. Close your eyes as whirrs of static transmission communicate hidden feelings and thoughts through white-washed synapses, and as dark (yet melancholy) orchestration plays foreboding basslines behind semi-diaphanous veils of agitated atoms. Let sprays of fuzz - so real you feel it on your face - crescendo into urgent climaxes and then settle into a dead calm, like the soothing tides of a distant rain. It's going to be difficult to top the consuming genius of this excellent experimental album.