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Mike Bullock, "Figures Without Ground"
Most of my familiarity with Bullock’s work involves his compositions for contrabass, performed in his own distinctive style with the results being anything but conventional. On this LP, however, he puts the emphasis on modular synthesizers and electronics, with the bass and field recordings appearing on half of the album and even then through heavy processing. The result is a unique pair of works that both show his strength in composition as well as improvisation.
While "Trompettes Marines" is based off of a live improvisation from 2010, the version here is an entirely new and fully realized recording that blends all of the elements Bullock works with into a single complex composition.Initially heavily focused on wispy bits of sound that move like passing spirits, the abstract tones begin to gel together more structured and almost melodic, slowly building the depth of the piece.
This calm is broken by what sounds like amplified and processed cars passing, leading to a dissonant rush of sound for a brief interval before settling down again peacefully.Sampled vinyl crackling appears to concoct a more intimate, texture laden sound about midway through.Towards its conclusion, recording of the seaside and the use of contrabass and electronics conjure up a markedly foggy, maritime like ambience that is only missing the smell of sea air and the cold, blustery winds of the New England coast.
In comparison, the title composition on the B side of the record is a bit more skeletal and sparse, heavily utilizing sustained analog electronic tones throughout.Which makes perfect sense, being that the piece was built mostly from a self-generative modular synth patch with very little direct input from Bullock after the initial set up. The analog waves mimic bowed strings well, and the occasionally sharp, shrill outburst or passage highlight the delightfully unpredictable nature of non-digital technology.Between this and the fact that Bullock did little in the way of post-production or mastering after the fact makes this all the more impressive.It may seem a sparse and more loosely structured in comparison, but considering how it was created, it is still a very impressive feat.
I must admit to favoring "Trompettes Marines" a bit more for general listening purposes, as its diverse structure and more complex instrumentation shine.Bullock’s merging of such distinct sound sources (purely electronic, traditional, and incidental sounds) come together splendidly."Figures Without Ground" is especially impressive given how it was created, but its sparser, more stripped down nature makes for less to dissect.Both sides of this record are rich with subtlety and understated brilliance.
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