Marinos Koutsomichalis - [Agxivatein - 2010]Marinos Koutsomichalis is a noise artist who actually has a PhD in music composition. This release's theme is as described in the title -- being about the malfunctions of electronics and sound equipment. It's not a new idea, though. Jeph Jerman's Hands To project had a similar piece called Catalog of Abuse on a tape back in the '80, back when the underground traded cassettes rather than CDs or MP3s. malfunctions is similar to that tape, with various amplifier hums and clicks. Track 4 has a great machine-drone with what sounds like a flock of crickets, however. Track two and six has plenty of noisy moments, sounding a bit like early Consumer Electronics, but track 5 has very little detectable sound at all, making it a mystery as to why Marinos included it in the first place. Malfuctions is an interesting piece with a familiar theme, probably the kind that was more fun to make than to listen too. Not that it's bad, just a case where the theory is more prominent than the practice. Lawrence J. Patti
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