James Plotkin:Mark Spybey "A Peripheral Blur" Kranky Records 1998 (52:27)
Jute Wheel (15:25)
Aluminium as a Medium (11:24)
A Peripheral Blur (7:18)
Vord Lae (13:31)
Northern Sleight (4:49)
Overall impression: good. It would seem that one of Mark Spybey's life goals is to collaborate with as many reknowned names in the ambient and experimental fields of music as possible: Zoviet France, cEvin Key, DR Goettel, Phil Western, Dave Wright, Martin Atkins, Jarboe, Sugarpill, Darryl Neudorf, Ryan Moore, Eric Pounder, Neils Van Hoorn, etc. Good! Here, Spybey trades sonics with James Plotkin, who's also known for his numerous collaborations and projects: Romance, Collapse, Scorn, Old, Flux, Solarus, etc. The 5 tracks that make up "A Peripheral Blur" are all quiet, minimal yet lush ambient soundscapes. There are no beats here, only simple looped melodies surrounded by shifting washes and drones of gentle, fluid sound. If Plotkin's guitar playing is in here somewhere, I can't easily detect it ... it sounds to me like Spybey either had the final say in the production or was the most influential in the resulting sound of the final product. Matter of fact, I have no idea what's being used to create the sounds because I can't discern any of the usual Spybey sources such as voice, toys and horns. Regardless, this is very nice ambient music, perfect for bedtime, reading or background listening. I tried to find something in the Spybey repetoire that was similar to this one, but failed. "A Peripheral Blur" certainly shares the DVOA aesthetic but at the same time isn't quite the same ... this seems less dark and brooding. One of Spybey's interesting collages (constructed of paper, cayenne, sage, turmeric and glue) fittingly serves as the outside and inside artwork of the digipack ...
Where did I get this cd? - mail order via Rioux's Records. Email Jason.