You've all read the story by now. In a dream, David Tibet was instructed to release all his material together in one collection before he died, echoing the old wives' tale that when you die your life flashes before you. Prior to its release, there was much speculation from fans on various email lists, would it be MP3 files? Could it manifest as another greatest hits? No, the secret is finally out. 'The Great in the Small' is one long track of everything playing at the same time, from 1984's 'Lashtal' single through 2000's 'Sleep Has His House' album. At the helm mixing the balances between everything was Stapleton and Tibet, who according to Tibet had a methodical mathematical system of doing things. While they may have carefully and meticulously decided where to begin and end tracks, equilizing the amount of sources played at one single time, the gimmick of this release wears rather thin going into the 10th minute. To its credit, the mix is carefully constructed and is truly an adventure either in a properly setup room with loud speakers or with headphones, listening and picking out popular favorites as they fade in and out in a tapestry of noise. In total, it stretches over 61 minutes: which can be a true test in patience. And what happens at the end of the journey? Sorry, I can't give that one away. Thankfully the release is mid-priced, as it probably won't get heavy rotation in most players.

Jon Whitney
Sunday, 01 April 2001