DAVID LEE MYERS review from downtown music gallery

["Liebig, Steuart A." <Steuart.Liebig@maritz.com>]

Title: icons

howdy . . . thought that i'd pass along a review/sales promo of our own mister myers. it's from dmg in nyc.

 14.DAVID LEE MYERS-Ourobouros (pulsewidth 01) I remember seeing

Arcane Device (David Myers) play his feedback looping box over a

decade ago and being amazed by the sound of sculpted feedback that it

produced at one of his rare sets. There were some half dozen

releases and collaborations on albums, CDs and even a rare double 7".

Mr. Myers eventually took his device apart and retired from music

making for almost a decade. Recently David puts a new feedback

looping device together, started his own label and has just released

this fascinating CD 'Ourobouros' - it is great to have him back. The

twelve tracks here are not named but do weave through a variety of

subtle electronic textures. The sounds on the first track are rather

like birds chirping, bowed cymbals, tape manipulation, soft hand

percussion and similar sonorous tapestry. There are sounds that

repeat but never for very long before they evolve into slightly

different textures. There is quite a bit of high-end squeaking which

would probably makes dogs howl and many of the sounds seem to be

vibrating and slowly changing into something else. After reading

through the Forced Exposure (one of our distributors) weekly new

release catalogue, I have noticed that there is a movement towards

stripped down electronics - thanks to Otomo, the MIMEO collective and

numerous Erstwhile sound explorers. Myers seems to fit right in,

since his music is all electronics based and seems to use little or

no sampled sounds. Track 3 sounds as if he is sampling a crackly old

record, but maybe not. The sounds here expand and contract slowly,

they bubble and whirl and cautiously get more dense in sections, yet

inevitably return to silence. Is that the sound of scissors snipping

or the chirping of electronic insects? It really doesn't matter

since all of this sonic scenery is so engaging and filled with

suspense. Some of these alien transmissions take some getting used

to, but this is quite a fascinating blend of sonic architecture.