CD - Dekorder
"Fractal Hair Geometry" has been conceived by Marc Richter, head honcho of Dekorder. Under the moniker Black to Comm, he introduces a multifaceted blend of effects, sounds and drones - often innate and mutoid - built for deep processing with the help of a Farfisa, a keypad and a Casio SK-5 (the latter is a cheap midi instrument particularly appreciated and popular in circuit bending and modding scene). Emerging atmospheres, with layers of sound rather than melodies, while the "space" and tortuous sequences seem to proliferate through the patterns, as the result of a formal but effective composition. The modulations are certainly all very "worked" and the use of non-verbal vocals stands out, enhancing deeply iterated mixtures. This process is augmented by the use of more traditional instruments, such as Jonna Karanka's piano, Guido Mobius' trumpet and Renate Nikolaus' violin - all artists with a very strong musical background, and usual collaborators of the Hamburg based label. The overall effect is alienating, escaping an ambivalence often implicit in the related avant-garde. Here the relationship among the different parts seem to be more important, as the criterion that emerges from the whole, even if a vague whole, is a virtuose summation of different elements.
Aurelio Cianciotta