Bruce Gilbert ‎– The Shivering Man

While some of Gilbert's later releases (1997's 'In Esse' for instance) remain a cup of tea a little too much to handle, 'The Shivering Man' is a masterpiece conceived well ahead of its time which perfectly demonstrates Gilbert's artistic strengths - most of his solo albums easily fit in with (some of them actually were part of) performance and theatre. Personally, I am a great fan of Dome - an abstract music project which Gilbert (along with his fellow Wireman Graham Lewis) pioneered to great effect.

Here, Gilbert continues to rely on repetitive loops - while some of his pieces, depending on particular album of choice, can be an exhausting listening experience, 'The Shivering Man' is executed with utmost brilliance - the music is still menacingly heavy and intimidating, but just as equally a dynamic and soothing listening experience.

"Net in the Feather" alone is a brilliant example of how mistreating a bagpipe into an altogether fully electronic sculpture can offer a completely transcendental listening experience.

While the whole of this album offers a beautiful (if not entirely abrasive) listening, the strongest pieces are those that involve the one and only A. C. Marias - whose voice gave these (and other Gilbert's sound adventures) a dimension all of its own ("Angel food", "Eline Cout II"). Marias' presence, and most of all, artistic merit proves her one of the most intriguing avantgarde's voices ever.

Gilbert himself is very well aware of and acknowledges this with deserved respect for this female artist.

"The Shivering Man" challenges the state of the mind and the body.