a r t i s t : Arp
t i t l e : In Light
d a t e : 2007
l a b e l : Smalltown Supersound (STS133CD)
g e n r e : Electronic
r l s. d a t e : Dec/2007
t r a c k s : 07
b i t r a t e : VBRkbps
s i z e : 64,1 MB
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9.0/10
If the Field's From Here We Go Sublime was the electronic
album of the first half of the year, then Arp's In Light might
win out for the second half. The two albums have a lot in
common: Their minimal approaches to pop, their endless
experimentation with sounds, their joyful optimism, their
single-member lineups. But where the Field's Axel Willner
explored the modern techno landscape of percussion and
sampling, Arp's Alexis Georgopoulos, a founder of the
dance-punk group Tussle, takes the opposite route, crafting
Krautrock-inspired instrumentals with only the lingering hint
of anything resembling a drum. This is beautiful,
other-worldly stuff, filtering Neu! through the lens of
Endless Summer.
The album cover says it all: a California sunset --
Georgopoulos is based in San Francisco -- with an
ever-expanding sky, symmetrical and balanced. But you can
easily detect the digital quality of the photo. In the same
way, In Light takes the transcendental aspects of the world
and analyzes them, puts them through computers, and prints out
a new image resembling the original but necessarily
transformed. It's an exercise in memory, not in endurance.
Even though no song is under five minutes, and one track,
"Odyssey," stretches past fifteen, it never feels like a
trick. That's because Arp crafts an album here, each song like
a separate movement. Opener "St. Tropez" takes a simple
approach, with softly chiming bells providing the rhythm and
spacey synths revealing short bursts of melodies. From here,
Georgopoulos begins complicating and exploring the
possibilities of the means he's established in the beginning.
"Potentialities" is the stand-out, with layers of floating
guitars and synthesizers placed over a slightly modulating
pulse machine. "The Rising Sun" begins as what might be a
score to a German existentialist film -- little electro flutes
with sparkling pianos -- and morphs into a fuzzy, lost Fennesz
track. The 9/8 time of "Premonition of the Sculptor Steiner"
is strangely reminiscent of the Beatles' "Dig a Pony,"
although abstracted and analyzed nearly beyond recognition.
The centerpiece of the album is "Odyssey (For Bas Jan Ader),"
an epic exercise in sound manipulation.
Just one loop was used for In Light; everything else was
recorded live. Paradoxically, it's this natural aesthetic that
lets the album reach a state of new experience that other
electronic albums with canned sounds can only strive for. The
ethos of Kraftwerk runs through In Light's veins. The strings
and Springsteen piano of "Potentialities II" bring the album
back down to Earth, reminding the listener of the natural
inspirations for Arp. Alexis Georgopoulos here issues a call
for musicians and listeners to examine their surrounding
world. But for the time spent listening to In Light, you only
want to get lost in his.
By: Sean Nelson
http://www.smalltownsupersound.com/
http://www.myspace.com/arp001
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01-St Tropez [05:30]
02-Potentialities [06:12]
03-The Rising Sun [07:07]
04-Fireflies On The Water [05:13]
05-Premonition Of The Sculptor Steiner [08:44]
06-Odyssey (For Bas Jan Ader) [15:45]
07-Potentialities II [06:31]
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55:02 min