Alva Noto: Unitxt

'Unitxt,' the 2008 album by Alva Noto, also known as Carsten Nicolai or simply 'Noto,' celebrates the German composer's 28th studio album to be released, excluding collaborations. In typical form, the composer combines heavy glitch elements with complex rhythmic structures to create an offering in the inimitable Alva Noto style.

Alva Noto: Unitxt

The album consists of 25 tracks, separated into two distinct parts: 10 original compositions followed by a series of 15 tracks realised by converting data from programs such as 'Powerpoint' or 'Fontlab4.0' into digital audio files, creating compositions informed by the aesthetics of noise music comparable to the Japanese artist Merzbow.

Minimal in style, with every track devoid of traditional harmonic and melodic constructs, this album is dependant on two clear elements, the sounds used by the composer and their rhythmic use within each track. This is shown immediately from the first track, 'u_07.' In this particular track, Alva Noto has combined surprisingly bassy glitches with various digital beeps. Later, Anne-James Chaton features in edited vocal elements which lie atop Noto's rhythmic glitch backing.

The electronic timbres used later develop in 'u_08' to give a clear brooding characteristic, rather curious considering the lack of harmony, illustrating the composer's ability to create emotions out of sounds rather than complete music. In contrast to this, the later tracks of the album which were created from executable data serve as more of a blank canvas from an emotional standpoint. These later tracks serve a greater stylistic purpose and can also serve to introduce fans of noise music to Noto's work.

For a review of Noto's earlier 'Insen' album, click here.

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John Murphy and Underworld: Sunshine (soundtrack)

Having previously reviewed the Daft Punk soundtrack to 'Tron: Legacy' here, it seems pertinent to review this heavily contrasting work, the soundtrack to the 2007 Danny Boyle film 'Sunshine.'

The soundtrack is a collaboration between film composer John Murphy and Underworld, the british electronic music duo. Throughout, the collaborators fuse a traditional film music style written predominantly for strings, with electronic effects and processing more congruent to laptop based electronic music production. This marriage is echoed in the film's style, the score shines at moments of tranquility and of terror and excels at both.

'Capa's Last Transmission Home' uses material also seen in a later track, 'To Heal.' This track, which is actually adapted from a previous Underworld release is one of the rare moments of tranquility if the film and the lush synthetic sound world is well suited alongside the various other musical elements. The following track, which is taken from a scene in which the captain of the vessel dies, is an equally effective piece primarily for strings which shows Murphey's talent as an orchestral composer. It is later in the album however, where the score makes it's climax.

The composers' use of disjointed and highly dysphoric writing are highly effective in portraying the fear and terror felt on screen to the audience. 'Kanada's Death Pt. 1' for instance is one of the most effective examples of music in the film through the suggestion of impending angony, the greatest strength is that it leaves the listener to fill in the emotional subtext rather than making an overt statement of terror. With that said, the furious string playing in 'Pinbacker Slashes Capa' could not be a clearer commentary to the on screen terror, and yet it functions so highly effectively as it both contrasts and builds upon the previous writing which suggested an unseen terror.

Later, as the protagonist prepares for the seeming impossible task of escaping from a sealed airlock in 'Capa Suits Up,' we see more typical Underworld writing which actually ends with the furious string playing seen previous. This leads in to 'Sunshine (Adagio in D Minor),' possibly Murphey's best writing as it captures so clearly the myriad of emotions from the movie in preparation for the film's finale.

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Alva Noto: Insen

Released in 2005 by Carsten Nicolai, better known as Alva Noto, in collaboration with pianist Ryuichi Sakamoto, Insen is the second album in an ongoing series by the duo. Alva Noto has to date released a total of 45 albums under various aliases since his 1996 debut 'spin.' This album however presents an intriguing marriage of ambient piano technique with Noto's distinctive Glitch Electronica composition.

Texturally, most of the album is quite minimal but with Noto's extensive treatment of piano to create grooves, sustains and even percussive rhythms, the album remains a highly credible work. Stylistically, the approach to composition features typical glitch technique but lacks the pace of much Noto material previously released and presents a series of 7 tracks, a total of 43 minutes, of intriguing pseudo-Ambient material.

In a way, for the attentive listener, the minimal instrumentation presents a slight tedium. For this reason, the 4th track, 'Moon,' deserves a special mention for its textural variety and construction of new additional timbres from Sakamoto's piano playing. Much of the album must be considered a complete work rather than a series of tracks, given the fantastic development throughout from its early minimal ambient beginnings to the more notable integration of glitch elements seen in 'Iano' and the highly processed sombre ending, 'Avaol.'

For a review of Noto's later 'Unitxt' album, click here.

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