Achim Wollscheid – 60 x X

Achim Wollscheid's 60xX is a strict, unforgiving exploration of sound. With 60 tracks of exactly 60 seconds of length, there are no songs here, only burbles of electronic noise and sweeps. Indeed, the individual track sequencing could have been done away with entirely; the moments seem to accrete, without traditional transitions or builds. What we have here, then, is sonic abstraction in an almost pure form, at once fascinating and alienating, and even if more harmonic tones (like the classical samples of "x1020" or the chorus of buzzing on the final track, "x3540," creep into the sonic space, they're not necessarily connected to anything -- or even each other. Instead, this album sound much more like a sound installation, an artistic experiment repurposed onto a CD. And while it's interesting intellectually, it doesn't always make for a fulfilling listening experience.