Obviously I lovelovelove Alva Noto. And I lapped up the first three volumes of the Xerrox series. In particular, I raved about the third installment, and I consider Xerrox Isola to be eight minutes of music that are about as close to perfection as any I’ve heard.
Four summers ago, I very much enjoyed number 4, but I didn’t buy it, because I didn’t feel like it was actually going to add anything to my life that the previous ones didn’t.
Well, here comes the fifth and, I believe, final entry. And my highly subjective opinion is that it’s great, probably the second best in the collection. Some of it is doing familiar things really really well: check out, to pick a random example, the slow plinky melody at the start of Xerrox Ascent I as it floats beatifically over the fuzz; or the subtle but magical way those little clicks elevate shimmering melody that slowly emerges in Xerrox Sans Repit. Other elements are strikingly new, most notably the atonal strings — skittering at first, and then blaring — in the penultimate track, Xerrox Kryogen, which builds into something which could be from the soundtrack of an arthouse horror movie, before segueing into the imperious grandeur of Xerrox Isotope. All in all, a very worthwhile addition to the canon.
And then, of course, I came over all completist, and I had to buy Vol 4 as well, because it would be irksomely untidy not to. Plus, I can make a lovely 336 minute playlist.
dogrando writes about some records 