INDICATES VOID

Bass Communion represents Steven Wilson's most inaccessible music. Typically, what it is, is very experimental music, usually taken from different sources and processed electronically. There is a lot of drone work, usually not a lot of percussion, and when it is, it is very sparse, very little movement, experiments in sound and creating art with sound in a new and exciting way. This works well with some of BC's experiments, while others just don't seem to accomplish much. For example, Bass Communion II and Ghosts on Magnetic Tape are both masterpieces.

This album is called Indicates Void, and it is made up of four tracks, each track named after the source instrument(s). The instruments create sounds and SW processes them into these soundscapes. That is really what these tracks are, not your typical music, but a set of soundscapes, painting with sound. The album overall is one that is best served up through the headphones as either background music, or listened to with total concentration and no interruption. The tracks are mostly quite beautiful and well constructed.

The album starts out with "Guitar" which is more of a drone than any of the other tracks. It really is the least interesting of the 4 tracks and doesn't seem to have a lot of direction or highlights throughout it's 10 minute duration. Mostly a typical ambient piece. Then comes "Clarinet" that starts out a little more harsh and abrasive than what you would expect, but as the piece continues, it gets more interesting, and considering the source material here, there are some very surprising sounds. There are some passages where the source is obvious, yet processed to still give some odd textures and pleasant sounds as the harshness becomes less. Underneath all of this is some intriguing drone work.

The next track is "Voice - Musical Box". This one is the most intriguing and amazing track of the four and also the longest. There are obvious music box sounds, but these mixed with the drone of harmonized wordless vocals which seem to constantly rise up a scale, but never seem to get there. Quite an amazing experiment and definitely the highlight of the album as there are textures here that are quite awesome and create an amazing texture. Last of all, we have "Piano - Soprano Saxophone" Don't expect any piano solo here, again the piano is used to create drones and textures while the saxophone is more obvious (played by Theo Travis by the way) and it is used as improvisation over the drones. This one is quite peaceful and beautiful creating a very relaxing atmosphere.

So this BC album really works and is quite good, but please understand that it is not typical music, not by a long shot. This is not driving music or anything resembling melody exists here. Many listeners probably won't understand this style, but these pieces for the most part are amazing masterpieces of sound. This one is highly recommended, but falls a little short of being a masterpiece because of the 1st track. Other than that, this is a very original work that should be searched out. Quite beautiful and original and some of the passages are the most amazing soundscapes created. Almost a masterpiece, but not quite there.