Top Bar
Musique Machine Logo Home ButtonReviews ButtonArticles ButtonBand Specials ButtonAbout Us Button
SearchGo Down
Search for  
With search mode in section(s)
And sort the results by
show articles written by  
 Review archive:  # a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

Jon Mueller & Jason Kahn - Topography [Crouton/Xeric - 2008]

Topography brings together five live improvisations of often grey and tension filled sound smog’s which at their most effective seem to fill your pours deep with almost unbearable anxiety and tension.

The five pieces are built from a mix of percussion, analogy synth and cassettes, which are brought into grey animation by percussionist Jon Mueller(Collections Of Colonies Of Bees, Hat Melter, Pele, Raccoons, Telecognac) and Percussionist & electronic musician Jason Kahn who as well as running the excellent Cut label has worked with the likes of Dieb13, Steinbrüchel, Kim Cascone, John Hudak, Steve Roden, Günter Müller, Kevin Drumm. With all of the tracks here share a rather grey, dense and tense tone, with no really let up in the tension or shift into jarring or surprising tones- this is improvised music at its most sustained, edgy and suffocating.

Though I do enjoy this up to a point and can see really concentration and skill is at work here, I’ll have to say at times it feels a little too grey and tense for it’s own good, sure there slight shifts in the texture of the sound and detail movement but no major deviation, with all the tracks having a uniformed and controlled sound stays pretty constant and focused through-out. I’ve very much enjoyed all of Kahn’s past work I’ve heard and stuff he’s released on Cut and while I can appreciate what their doing here I just wish there had been more varation and shift in tone- but then I guess that would defeat the point of the release.

Rating: 2 out of 5Rating: 2 out of 5Rating: 2 out of 5Rating: 2 out of 5Rating: 2 out of 5

Roger Batty
Latest Reviews

Jon Mueller & Jason Kahn - Topogr...
Topography brings together five live improvisations of often grey and tension filled sound smog’s which at their most effective seem to fill your pours ...
260424   Marco Baldini/Apartment House...
250424   Intruder - Psycho Savant
250424   Hot Spur - Hot Spur( Blu Ray)
250424   Happy End - Happy End( Blu Ray)
250424   Electronicat - Saturation
240424   Soma - Me Dais Mucho Asco
240424   Koobaatoo Asparagus - Onna-musha
240424   Magda - And Suddenly, Just L...
230424   Andrea Taeggi - Nattdett
230424   Seedpeople - SeedPeople(Blu Ray)
Latest Articles

The Music of Clay Ruby & Burial H...
Over the last couple of decades Wisconsin native, Clay Ruby has been creating some of the world’s finest dark electronic music under the Burial Hex mon...
280324   The Music of Clay Ruby & Buri...
290224   Sutcliffe No More - Normal Ev...
100124   Occlusion - The Operation Is...
181223   Best Of 2023 - Music, Sound &...
051223   Powerhouse Films - Of Magic, ...
181023   IO - Of Sound, Of Art, Of Exp...
210923   Lucky Cerruti - Of Not so Fri...
290823   The Residents - The Trouble W...
110723   Yotzeret Sheydim Interview - ...
250523   TenHornedBeast - Into The Dee...
Go Up
(c) Musique Machine 2001 -2023. Twenty two years of true independence!! Mail Us at questions=at=musiquemachine=dot=comBottom