Jan Jelinek - Tierbeobachtungen

Jan Jelinek pushes further into ambient territory with _Tierbeobachtungen_, a droning fantasia. Instead of using loops of sharp cuts and snippets like his earlier work, Jelinek's loops now linger on, embracing the dub. "A Concert for Television" buzzes ceaselessly, like an electric hive, while "Palmer Aus Lader" sounds like a country drive to a farm of robotic animals. "Up to My Same Old Tricks" grinds and hums with a gritty sonic texture, but "Happening Tone" paints a much calmer and gentler soundscape. Curiously, there's not much development in these tracks -- something with which Jelinek has never struggled before -- so I imagine he's simply flexing his creative muscle, rather than repeating previous successes. And, finally, the title track winds things down on layers of structured noise and ringing. Curious.