Expanding upon the themes of place and space that has shaped his recent solo works, Mark Solotroff's latest record unsurprisingly features heavy use of his trademark analog synths. What changes, however, is the actual inclusion of sonic spaces: environmental recordings captured from his current hometown of Chicago, as well as travels in Milan and Venice. The intersection of these spatial recordings and electronic instrumentation gives In Search of Total Placelessness a different feel than his other recent works but sits beautifully alongside them.
Rather than specifically focusing on a sense of space, In Search of… features a shift to emphasizing movement and transition, creating a sense of space but one that is short lived, transitioning to a new one rapidly. Balancing short segments (30 seconds to one minute) with longer pieces, with each fading in and out, Solotroff captures that sense of spatial and temporal transition perfectly, with some lingering longer than others, but theme of movement is overt, while still sounding like a coherent album.
"Immediately After Vanishing" is the first longer piece, pairing layers emphasizing high and low frequencies that are polarized without being overbearing. There is an almost digital brittleness to the sound that at times resembles an idling jet engine with the mid frequencies scraped out. Solotroff also maintains a sense of structure throughout the piece, which results in an almost looping sense to it without falling into repetition.
With "Adhesion to Shadows" he leads off with what sounds like sheets of rain and a deep rumble that again features a sense of musical structure lower in the mix. He shifts between dense, interconnected layers and spaciousness, again conjuring a sense of movement while letting hints of melody bleed through. Bits of pseudo-melody also appear on "Rational Devices Lost in a Void," where the higher pitched synth layers begin to sound like actual notes at times, and a combination of buzz and rumble is filtered to a point of becoming almost overwhelming.
Solotroff emphasizes both the location recordings and electronics on "Street Works Leading Nowhere" right from the onset, with some apparent echoing recordings of urban spaces blended with a rhythmic chug that brings to mind his more straight forward power electronics projects. He makes the synths crunch while the mix builds and collapses, and it is disorienting throughout, ending on a seemingly junk metal crash.
At over 11 minutes, closer "The Left Half of My Body Untethered" is a fitting conclusion, as he brings everything together in an immediately dense mix, redlining the volume and featuring significant panning layers. What sounds almost like incidental conversations captured by his recorder appear, though too far off to be identifiable, even as the mix slowly comes apart and floats off.
The shorter pieces work as stand-alone works as well: in half of a minute, "Protective Factors Slip Away" is a rush of noise that could be ocean waves, could be a passing subway, or could be a jet engine. The metallic resonance of "Floorbound Intersection" is a minute of wet sewer ambience, and "Time Overlaps Unresolved" is a short work of creaking, clattering noises and isolated parking garage vibes.
Even within the scope of his multitude of other projects, Mark Solotroff's solo excursions continue to be thematically unique compelling. The titles of albums and individual pieces may hint at what he strives to do on each one, but the sounds themselves perfectly align with his intent and focus. Like an expert sculptor who works with analog synthesizers and electronics rather than bronze or clay, Solotroff never fails to shape sound into carefully calculated constructs with perfection.
