Senking "Ping Thaw" Karaoke Kalk Records cd 4 2000 (49:47)
Score (5:56)
Ringe (3:54)
Risk
(7:23)
Movies
(5:42)
Bones (7:13)
Thaw (3:57)
Ping (8:19)
Harrigan
(7:23)
Senking is Jens Massel (aka Kandis, Fumble) and this cd combines the two 4 track 12" EPs "Ping" and "Thaw", all of which are on Germany's Karaoke Kalk label. Senking's music is layered electronic soundscape with some glitch minimalism influence. The Ping tracks combine an ever evolving, reverberated mix of deep bass swells, warm and fuzzy atmospheres and melodies and bits of clickety-clack metallic percussion. Pretty soothing stuff similar to Senking's '20 to 2000' contribution last year, the one exception being the 7+ minutes of "Risk" which adds some distortion to the mix. The Thaw tracks are more minimal and they suffer because of that. "Bones" and "Ping" (curiously enough, "Ping" is on the "Thaw" EP rather than the "Ping" EP) are dull, aimless and unnecessarily lengthy at over 7 and 8 minutes respectively. "Thaw" unfortunately uses dialogue samples from a bad sci-fi movie throughout. "Harrigan" begins with semi noisy sound collage then develops into a more typical Senking track in the latter half. It's probably the most interesting of the lot and is certainly the best of the Thaw tracks. Altogether "Ping Thaw" is hit and miss with 5 good tracks and 3 duds, maybe not quite worth the >$15 import price tag. It's a shame that Thaw is Senking's latest work because I'd like to hear him further explore the Ping mindset in the future. Massel's latest release is the self titled debut as Fumble, also on Karaoke Kalk ...
Where did I get this cd? - mail order via Riouxs Records.