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

Bjarni Gunnarsson - Processes & Potentials [3Leaves - 2013]

The 3 Leaves imprint presents Processes & Potentials, a full-length CD-R by Icelandic composer/sound artist Bjarni Gunnarsson. Released in 2013, this offering is the outcome of Gunnarsson’s compositional preoccupations over the span of 3 years of his life.

First off, the packaging is quite nice for this release. The CD-R is housed in a gate-fold, card-stock sleeve. Once opened up, we’re greeted to 6 panels of artwork taken from Cédric Dupire’s book Génocide de Fourmis and a proper cover panel with the pertinent info. The photographs presented on each panel are dark, haunting forest scenes, which compliment the audio content well.


Processes & Potentials features 6 tracks running approximately 48 minutes. Despite being presumably an all electronic album, there’s an undefinable natural quality to the entire disc. Dense atmospheric backdrops engulf the pieces as crackling, crunchy electronics penetrate the foreground. Electronic pulsing, glowing hum, insectoid chirping, and ambient passages course throughout the album, while more abrasive elements crinkle and sizzle. There might be some field recording elements as well, but it’s hard to tell. He might just be tricking the listener’s ears. The “noise” elements aren’t really harsh at all, but cleanly presented and clearly delineated. To say this album is “crisp” seems quite fitting.


While this album is comprised 6 separate tracks, each piece feels quite dependant on the totality of the sonic tapestry presented. Truthfully, each piece sounds like a variations of one another, which might sound homogenous on the surface, but actually works in the context of the whole. The parts are great, but the sum is ever the better. Overall, it’s very thought out album and supremely composed. At times this album reminds me of living electronic jungle, full of digital wildlife, and other times it sound like something approaching Daniel Blinkhorn meets Eraserhead.

I was quite surprised by this release. I was drawn to the packaging, but ultimately enthralled by the music. Processes & Potentials is a perfect example that electronic based music need not sound cold and sterile, but can sound very much like a living organism.

Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5Rating: 4 out of 5

Hal Harmon
Latest Reviews

Bjarni Gunnarsson - Processes & ...
The 3 Leaves imprint presents Processes & Potentials, a full-length CD-R by Icelandic composer/sound artist Bjarni Gunnarsson. Released in 2013, this off...
270324   Jerzy Skolimowski Collection ...
260324   Latex Choker - Sealed
260324   Occlusion - 59: No Input Wall
260324   Nihil Impvlse - Anabasis
260324   Marta Forsberg - Sjunger För...
260324   The New Boy - The New Boy( Th...
250324   The Stargazer’s Assistant - ...
250324   Liza Lim - Annunciation Trip...
220324   Patrick - Patrick( UHD/ Blu Ray)
220324   Dadawah - Peace And Love
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