PRESS REVIEWS OF FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET

CHAIN D.L.K. - 23 May 2010

Everything But The Gargoyle is a collaborative project between Ferrara Brain Pan (Forms Of Things Unknown) from San Francisco and Pixyblink (aka Kyra Pixy) from Fallbrook, in southern California. Turns out Ferrara stumbled upon Pixyblink's MySpace profile while exploring G. James Wyrick's The Method Learned page. I have no idea who Gregory James Wyrick is, but the relevance to this CD is that the subtitle is "Four Musical Settings of the Poetry of Gregory James Wyrick." Anyway, Ferrara connected with Pixyblink and found his muse. The spark was ignited, and Four Flies on Grey Velvet is the result of the first long-distance musical project by Everything But The Gargoyle. (The CD title comes from the title of a 1972 Dario Argento film, a kind of a thriller-slasher flick.) Instead of doing the project under the Forms Of Things Unknown moniker, they decided on Everything But The Gargoyle as the project name. Confusing perhaps, but useful to keep future projects by the duo separate from their other endeavors.

I'm familiar with Ferrara's FOTU project - not too long ago I reviewed his Black Trenchcoats & Swastikas 'N Shit CD for Chain D.L.K. Minimalist, moody dark ambient stuff it was, with a lot of diversity - a little uneven, but still pretty good as I recall. The Nazi toilet paper roll cover of the CD even added to the CD's weird collectiblity factor. Not being familiar with Pixyblink, I decided to visit her MySpace site and check out her tracks. I found the music to be minimalist ambient, kind of moody and dark, with occasional spoken word and wordless singing. Briefly checking her other collaborations (anotherAntidote, Winter Umbrellas, Cave Dwellers) which come from such far-flung-places as Australia and Russia, I found ambient music that ranged from shoegazer to industrial with a lot of variety between tracks and often with lyrical vocals or spoken word by Pixyblink. Vocally, there is a similarity to Jarboe in her quieter, more reflective moments, although Pixyblink is no Jarboe.

Over the four tracks on this EP CD, Everything But The Gargoyle sets a mood that would be right at home on the Cold Meat Industry label. On the first track, "Sleeping With Ghosts," Ferrara's bowed psaltery is the main instrument that accompanies Pixyblink's poetical recitation (of G. James Wyrick's poetry, I presume). It's a nice minimal piece, and a good mood-setter. I played this song for my girlfriend in Spain, and her cat (who also heard it) freaked out and started biting her arm! "Susto" benefits from a little minimal guitar courtesy of James Severance, along with buzzes and drones, again with Pixyblink's Ophelia-like poetical recitation. The music, which includes Ferrara on moaning but jazzy woodwinds, glockenspiel in a repetitive eight-note pattern, and other moaning samples or vocals, gives the impression of acute melancholia with possible hints of dementia. More drones on third track "Pretty Blue Forever," which again features Pixyblink's poetical spoken word vocals, drenched in sadness and sorrow. (Moping Goths are sure to love this.) In the final track, "The Hum of Blood," Pixyblink recites over tympani with a martial cadence and a mournful woodwind giving an impression of a funeral march.

Everything throughout the entire CD is low-key and understated, with a consistent mood and extremely well done. Overall, it's kind of Neofolk with a touch of Martial on the last track. There isn't one weak track, and I found myself wanting more. In fact, that's the biggest beef I had with Four Flies, there just wasn't enough of it! I hope these two will collaborate again soon. There seems to be a synergy in their partnership which is a little lacking in their individual efforts. Some kind of tempering or fusion, but it just works. I'd surely have rated it higher if there was more, but as a first effort, it's marvelous. You can go to the EBTG website and check out all the tracks, but I'd recommend picking up the CD for its collectible value. Nice glossy digipack with a cover photo by G. James Wyrick, not of Pixyblink, but a model named Tracey Metro. I think these two deserve some of your hard earned cash for their effort.

- Steve Mecca
www.chaindlk.com

BLACK ONLINE - Number 51

Diese Veroffentlichung ist ein Beispiel dafur, wie Bandname und Albumtitel ein weites, teils zufalliges Referenznetz knupfen konnen. Der Name spielt (sehr wahrscheinlich) bewusst auf das britische Popduo an, das statt des Wasserspeiers das Madchen im Namen trug und gibt (damit) einen Hinweis auf die Besetzung: In diesem Fall zeichnet sich Ferrara Brain Pan, dessen eigenes Projekt Forms of Things Unknown vor einigen Jahren mit einem grossartigen, von verschiedenen Blasinstrumenten stark gepragten Minialbum debutierte, fur die gesamte Musik verantwortlich; Kyra Pixy, die mit ihrem Projekt Pixyblink einige Alben veroffentlicht hat, leiht dem ganzen ihre Stimme und tragt Texte des Lyrikers G. James Wyrick vor. Der Titel des Minialbums verweist auf gleichnamigen Anfang der 70er Jahre gedrehten Film Dario Argentos und wenn man dann noch bedenkt, dass Thomas Bernhards Roman "Verstorung" im Englischen "Gargoyles" heisst, hat man das Territorium, auf dem sich die Stucke dieses Albums bewegen, schon ganz gut abgesteckt - denn die vier Tracks sind im besten Sinne des Wortes verstorend. "Sleeping With Ghosts" wird vom Spiel des Streichpsalters dominiert und Kyras Stimme schwankt zwischen Traurigkeit und Ekstase, versetzt einen in eine Zwischenwelt, in der Geister durchaus leben konn(t)en. "Susto," ein Begriff, der eine Angsterkrankung bezeichnet, beginnt mit einer Gitarre, in deren monotones Spiel der dunkle Klang einer Bassklarinette einbricht, es kommen (dem Titel angemessen) unheimliche Stimmsamples, Glockenspiel und Saxophon dazu: Das ist Lynchland, dieses Stuck hatte auch Sequenzen aus "Mulholland Drive" durchaus untermalen konnen - wahrscheinlich der Hohepunkt des Albums. Auf "Pretty Blue Forever" tragt Kyra Pixy mit einer den Tranen nahen Stimme einen Text vor, der vom Verlust dominiert zu sein scheint ("Of the leeches of memory twisted too ugly to ever be dreamed again"), um am Ende die Frage zu stellen: "I simply ask: What has become of our pretty blue forever?." Keyboardflachen und Streichpsalter tragen zur Unterstutzung der (Weh-)Klage bei. Das abschliessende "The Hum of Blood" beginnt mit einem Drumloop, bevor der Text ("At first we're benign / but in time / we resign to that climb inside a raging stare... / To resemble some form close to human.") diesmal fast distanziert vorgetragen wird. Das spater einsetzende Mijwiz erinnert (entfernt) an Dead Can Dance und verleiht dem Stuck einen leicht orientalischen Charakter. Dann ist das Album (leider) vorbei, nicht jedoch der Eindruck, den es hinterlassen hat: Vier Stucke, in denen Instrumentierung, Text und Vortrag eine fast schon unheimlich zu nennende Synthese eingehen. "Der Stil ist die Physiognomie des Geistes," bemerkte einmal Schopenhauer. Man darf beeindruckt sein.

- Michael Gottert
www.blackmagazin.com

KFJC ON-LINE REVIEWS - May 2010

Whether you like poetry or not, you've got to try this. Haunting instrumentation (including bowed psaltery, mijwiz, samples) set the scene for Kyra Pixy's entrancing voice reciting the remarkable and macabre poetry of G. James Wyrick. Ferrara Brain Pan (composer) discovered Pixy via Wyrick's MySpace page, and Everything But the Gargoyle was born. Think dark, atmospheric melodrama. I prefer Tracks 2 and 4 because of their steady, sober delivery, but 1 and 3 are great if you like sad, desperate manipulations.

- humana
spidey.kfjc.org

PRESS REVIEWS OF BLACK TRENCHCOATS & SWASTIKAS 'N SHIT

COMPULSION - June 2009

Don't worry about the title, the swastika-adorned toilet roll or the laughing Hitler collages, nor even the typography stolen from a Death In June release - Forms Of Things Unknown are only trying to confuse you. The peculiarly named Ferrara Brain Pan is neither a 3rd Reich rock'n'roller nor a misaligned neo-folker. It's all a perverse type of humour for the multi-instrumentalist performer and composer of this acoustic/electronic experimental project.

Black Trenchcoats is formed from demos, outtakes and compilation tracks, after a lengthy self-imposed hiatus following the release of his first CD, Cross Purposes. Black Trenchcoats takes on experimental music, with a heavy emphasis on orchestral woodwind instruments featuring prominently in his compositions.

A number of tracks display his dexterity with wind instruments, such as "Vallatar," with its wailing sax and sustained haunting notes based on the Swedish vocal tradition of kulning. "Elegy," performed on the bass clarinet, captures a sombre, mordant tone. It, like "The Fifth Path," a solo harmonium drone piece, is almost funereal in its execution.

"Cobblestones," meanwhile, is a mediaeval styled composition performed on soprano recorder with an overdubbed accompaniment of bowed psaltery; while the closing track, "Burial Of The First Toy," is an interpretation of the main title theme to Alexandro Jodorowsky's surreal western El Topo. Here the windswept atmosphere is eschewed for an unaccompanied tenor recorder rendition.

Black Trenchcoats gets stranger on the electronic tracks. "Interrupted By Interior Design" is delivered in two parts. 'Part I: Speculum (for Marcel Duchamp)' is a strange one, comprised of fizzing textures, low drone hum and looped breathing, with intermittent snatches of voices and samples, and electronic tones and pulses. The samples lead to 'Part II: From Here To Parker Posey.' With less emphasis on edit cuts, Part II opens with Latin conga rhythms, low sax blurts and snippets of a jazz standard. The entire piece is riddled with voice samples, including Salvador Dali and Marcel Duchamp, and is reminiscent of the sonic collage work of Nurse With Wound. Naturally, it sits nicely alongside "Shave 'Em Dry 'Til The Cows Come Home," the Forms of Things Unknown contribution to the Nurse with Wound competition to remix the track "Two Shaves and a Shine" from the constituent parts offered on the extra disc of An Awkward Pause. From a looped bass line, a wailing sax is added alongside more wailing voices and a roll call of musical artists - an inane list, perhaps in response to the feted Nurse With Wound list that accompanied their first release.

"Blue Light" has nothing to do with Leni Riefenstahl and more to do with the gas pilot light that provides the constant muffled roar that underpins this construction of broken glass and smashed crockery, looped rhythmic noise and assorted found voices and squawking birds. While "Blue Light" is an example of FOTU's ability to create music from chaotic slice-and-dice, "Quadrilateral" is much more minimal, offering 14 minutes of restrained ambience. It's a quietly mesmerising piece of looped humming, rotating tones and repetitive bleeping that shares an affinity with Coil's Time Machines project. Another surprising turn for FOTU can be found on "Mesozoica," a collaboration with Ure Thrall that lurches into dark ambient territory to the strains of dark droning, quiet pounding and subdued atmospheric flute playing.

Black Trenchcoats was compiled, as the subtitle indicates, from "Demos, Outtakes and Rarities: 2003-2006." As Ferrara Brain Pan points out in the liner notes, this period was marked by personal turmoil and sporadic creative attempts with the most basic of equipment. And while this lacks cohesion, there's an inordinate amount of ideas that, though not fully realised, won't do this experimental composer any harm. Interested readers may care to seek out Cross Purposes, the first proper FOTU album that has just been reissued in an expanded format by the same label. For more information go to www.formsofthingsunknown.com or www.pimalia.net

- Tony Dickie
www.compulsiononline.com

CHAIN D.L.K. - 23 January 2009

Black Trenchcoats & Swastikas 'n Shit (subtitled 'Demos, Outtakes & Rarities 2003-2006') is the latest offering from Ferrara Brain Pan's Forms Of Things Unknown project. Well, you can't say the title and CD cover isn't controversial; takes the Residents' concept of 'Third Reich & Roll' to a whole new level. If you need to know why Ferrara might feel compelled to do something like this, go to FOTU's MySpace page and read "A True Written Statement by Ferrara Brain Pan" and you'll be given some idea. ("Bitchslapped by Bill Clinton?" And that was just the 'fun' part...)

Black Trenchcoats is nearly a full hour's worth of FOTU material, most of it in the experimental vein. Opening track "Vallatar" is highlighted by a melodic mournful wailing woodwind solo. Nice tone-setter. "Interrupted By Interior Design" comes in two parts/tracks, the first underscored with a low frequency drone and a hissing sound, while other tones (electronic and acoustic) are briefly introduced with some sort of breathing loop. The soundbyte at the end poses the question "What maniac put this doll in my bed?" and then part two begins with a latin conga-driven rhythm groove with weird vocal soundbyte samples, some moaning drones and short feedback. Crazy, baby!

"The Fifth Path" is a harmonium dirge that would make Nico smile, if she were still alive (not an easy thing to do; Nico wasn't known for her 'happy face.') The next track, "Quadrilateral," is the longest on the CD, clocking in at 15 seconds over 14 minutes. Up to this point, things are going pretty well. All that is about to change. Once again we begin with a low frequency drone, this time modulated with an LFO. A bit into the track two higher frequency tones enter - a steady ringing and a regularly intermittent blip. This is followed by a rapid white noise 'brushing' sound which in turn modulates the ringing for a while. While it may be a cool minimalist synth exercise in LFO treatment, I found it tedious to listen to. FOTU returns to the bass clarinet on "Elegy," another woodwind solo. Moody and well done. "Blue Light" has all the dark ambience and oppressive heat of standing next to a huge furnace in some subterranean factory while machines clank and bizarre voices squawk, chatter and laugh away in the darkness. "Shave 'Em Dry 'Til The Cows Come Home" just may be the weirdest track on Black Trenchcoats. Over a repeating bass line is a woodwind arrangement, while a variety of disparate sampled vocal and other bizarre soundbytes drift in and out. "Cobblestones" is a Renaissance-style piece arranged for recorder ensemble and bowed psaltery. Nice little ditty. Think 'Aion' period Dead Can Dance. An alternate mix of "Mesozoica" is the next track, shorter in length than the one on Cross Purposes and lacking the prominent woodwind work. More of a subdued dark ambient version. I don't know why, but I was reminded of Steve Roach here. Still, it has merit. The last track, "Burial Of The First Toy," is FOTU's version of the title theme from Jodorowsky's cult film El Topo. I've seen El Topo a couple of times, but it's been a while. I honestly can't say I remember the main theme, but the track is a nice recorder solo.

Overall, Black Trenchcoats & Swastikas 'n Shit is pretty good, especially considering how lo-fi FOTU's recording process was, and if it wasn't for the 14-plus minutes of "Quadrilateral" I would have rated it higher. If you're new to Forms Of Things Unknown, I'd start with the Cross Purposes CD. If you like that, I think you'll probably enjoy this one too. I wouldn't take the "swastikas 'n shit" too seriously, even though there is a picture of old Adolf on the inside of the trifold digipak. It really has nothing to do with the music. I doubt Ferrara's a Nazi sympathizer. It's undoubtedly just his warped sense of humor.

- Steve Mecca
www.chaindlk.com

HEATHEN HARVEST - 1 March 2009

This is a collection of demos and outtakes from the artist known as Ferrara Brain Pan. For a good time, look up this man's bio and give it a ponder. These tracks are fittingly all over the place, and amply display Ferrara's talents on the saxophone, which seems to be a favored instrument. The artwork lampoons the prominent presence of swastika- and Nazi-themed artwork in the Post-Industrial and Neo-Folk genres, but in the end seems to be fetishizing the imagery in its own way. The music on this collection is generally rather wandering, but there is bountiful documentation and explanation accompanying the release.

Staying somewhere between the audio sound collage world of Foetus and the Qlipothic pop world of David Bowie, Ferrara trips out on samples and rhythms for much of this release. This collection shows the work of an artist who is between more solid documents. Brain Pan himself states in the interior [liner notes] that this was not a very prolific time for Forms of Things Unknown. One thing that sets it apart from others in a similar vein is the presence of a multitude of wind instruments, which Ferrara utilizes masterfully. Although I have heard vocal compositions by this artist that I would deem beautiful ("Stupid Blood"), he seems to be most expressive on the winds.

Mostly things are fairly subdued, and when they do get a little hectic it is still quite distant from the listener. One gets the impression that these are unfinished pieces, works that were begun on some bit of inspiration and then never quite getting completed. Track Seven, "Blue Light," is rather interesting, and the first to featuring a truly chaotic structure, with sounds of breaking glass and the like accompanied by a quiet drone. Some of the tracks have a more Volkish influence, with "Vallatar" and "Cobblestones" somewhat [evoking] the plague times of yore. I was waiting this whole record for a track to just really blow me away on this release, but it is just not happening. Like the man says himself, the time that this was recorded was "not a source of sustained inspiration" for him. If you have everything else by this artist, by all means give this a shot, but it is a rather extraneous document by itself. The last two tracks are by far the most interesting, with really nice synths on "Mesozoica," a sustained and subtle piece, worth a listen. The little tribute to "El Topo" at the end is very nice as well.

- Vargr Wulf
www.heathenharvest.com

WONDERFUL WOODEN REASONS - June 2009

The last FOTU album I heard wasn't really my bag. There were a couple of tracks that I liked, but on the whole it skirted too close to genres I take little interest in, and, as such, moved me not. This one, however, is an absolute corker.

A compilation of tracks created between 2003 and 2006, this is a varied beast, containing sparse electronica, dada-esque songcraft and european folk tunes, amongst others. It's almost entirely the work of the, let's say, uniquely named Ferrara Brain Pan (he has assistance on two tracks: Ure Trall on one track and the assorted members of Nurse With Wound on his remix of "Two Shaves And A Shine"). Even with the disjointed nature of its creation, this has a far more cohesive feel than the Cross Purposes album. FBP's trademark wind instruments are in full flight, but wrapped around them and threaded through them are a plethora of drones, effects, field recordings and inexplicable noises. He does occasionally dip into the 'ye olde world' type stuff that I really disliked on the other album, but this is kept to a minimum and is easily ignored. The rest, though, is really very good indeed, and I've found myself returning to this album often over the last couple of weeks. Although, why he would saddle an album this good with such a dreadful title and horrible sleeve art is beyond me.

www.wonderfulwoodenreasons.co.uk

AQUARIUS RECORDS - New Releases, 9 January 2009

Regarding the title and the cover art here, Ferrara Brain Pan - the lone pilot of San Francisco's obscurantist project Forms Of Things Unknown - is taking the piss out of the perennial flirtations with Nazi culture found in experimental and post-punk musics over the past 30 or 40 years. It's an odd form of humor, but one that stops at the cover art, never to be brought up within these eccentric and disparate tracks that hearken back to the early days of United Dairies. Whimsical collages, complete with bongo-boy rhythms and cut-up vocal samples (which really could be an extract from Nurse With Wound's Funeral Music For Perez Prado), are juxtaposed against icy cold electronic tone workouts that draw from the precisely constructed, psychoacoustic experiments of Ryoji Ikeda or John Duncan. Ferrara also interjects his favorite instrument, the bass clarinet, on a few somber pieces that warp the brassy notes of a maudlin funereal passage into air raid sirens. As beautiful as some of these pieces can be, Ferrara's deft use of electronics and the digital razor blade is all the better. All of these tracks are demos, outtakes, or compilation rarities, including the Forms Of Things Unknown contribution to the Nurse With Wound remix album of Two Shaves And A Shine. While there is a disjointed quality to the album, this is a well needed investigation into the music of this seldom heard musician.

www.aquariusrecords.org 

PRESS REVIEWS OF CROSS PURPOSES (REMASTERED EDITION)

STEREO SUBVERSION - 25 January 2009

Originally released in 2003, Cross Purposes was an anomaly that should have turned the ambient/experimental scene on its ear. A genre that had once challenged the very notion of art and aesthetics had increasingly mired itself in a sort of elitism which saw many of its practitioners resort to pedantic noise-making romps or bland minimalism. While these exercises certainly tested the listener's patience, they did little to promote the scene outside its limited audience of art students and misanthropes.

In this atmosphere of indulgence and 'noise for its own sake,' Forms of Things Unknown provided a most welcome change of scenery. It was/is the pet project of one Ferrara Brain Pan: an eccentric multi-instrumentalist whose accolades date back to 1977, when he paired up with veteran noise connoisseur Boyd Rice for a recording which never saw the light of day. To date, Brain Pan has remained prolific, with a total of fifteen official recordings under his belt. His musical range covers everything from atmospheric works (with 23 Degrees and Darmstadt Pharmacy) to the experimental/psychedelic weirdness of Faust. In effect, Brain Pan's mere association with such inventive movements tends to distinguish him as an 'artist's artist.' His music can genuinely be called esoteric, because its diversity and conceptual density will prevent less diligent ears from stepping any closer.

Cross Purposes is currently in its second edition, with a complete remastering and the addition of a bonus track. As anticipated, the improved sound quality is immediately apparent from the opening strains of "Black Candles & Pentagrams 'n Shit" - a track which covers almost half the album's duration. It is divided into two sections, the first of which is called "Risen, The Judas Moon." This cut begins with a sustained metallic ring which waxes and wanes in volume until the 3-minute mark is reached. Various woodwind instruments (which sound like reeds, or maybe some sort of oboe) begin to weave in and out of the mix, resulting in an ambiance of wailing, primal urgency. Occasional percussion rolls accentuate their lament as the woodwinds allow a low synth growl to bring them into the next section, "Errant Bodies." This track is slightly more structured than the previous entry, with a deep, resounding bassoon melody (or is it bass clarinet?) hanging over a subtle atmospheric backdrop. We are soon after led into another two-part saga entitled "Mariam Matrem," which translates to "Mother Mary." This track is basically a rearranged Christian hymn, which might imply that Brain Pan intended for "Cross Purposes" to illustrate some sort of religious dichotomy. Whatever the case, this is a beautifully executed piece which features a multitracked Baroque melody, presumably played on flutes. The listener is gradually pulled into a soprano vocal section that is sung entirely in Latin. Those of us who are still recovering from the painful memories of a Catholic upbringing will find the performance of vocalist Shannon Wolfe very compelling, if not traumatic.

The album comes to its original conclusion with the song "Stupid Blood," which is a Howard Devoto cover. It begins with an ominous note sequence which sounds like it's being played on a keyboard, until closer inspection reveals that Brain Pan's woodwinds are the source. Rich baritone vocals soon enter the picture, with guest singer Bob Ayres creating a vibe that is melancholy and yet eerily emotionless. The song ultimately progresses into a huge display of compositional grandeur, complete with a sax solo and intense interplay among various other horns and woodwinds. The song eventually develops into an odd yet spectacular amalgam of instruments, which collectively evokes visions of a bagpipe quintet.

Bonus track "Mesozoica" is an interesting pick, as its odd, howling melodies and reverbed percussion elicit visions of an obscure Native American ritual. Low-end keyboard effects swell in and out of the mix, periodically lending an aura of cosmic reckoning. The piece remains on an even keel throughout its duration (with few transitions and no mood shifts), but avoids tedium by urging the listener toward contemplation and wonderment.

Material of this nature has a propensity for dullness when it becomes lengthy and hence unfocused. At just thirty minutes, the original version of Cross Purposes was surprisingly short, if a bit abrupt. Its three pieces were complete (in the sense that drawing them out would have been pointless), but it always seemed that three more tracks of similar material would have made it a perfect release. "Mesozoica" is a partial remedy, as its presence has the effect of fleshing out the recording without resorting to filler material. Overall, the inclusion of this track and the album's superior sound quality make it a worthwhile investment for newcomers and loyalists alike.

- Chris Alfano
www.stereosubversion.com

CHAIN D.L.K. - 23 January 2009

This CD, Cross Purposes by Forms Of Things Unknown, main recording project of San Francisco artist Ferrara Brain Pan, was originally released in 2003 (and reviewed here at Chain D.L.K., I might add); but owing to a remastered version, some spiffy new packaging and an extra track, I felt that this 2008 release of the CD deserved another review. Being that the initial review spent half the space explaining Ferrara's background, association with Boyd Rice and other projects, I thought I'd dispense with that and just concentrate on the CD.

I remember having the opportunity to hear Cross Purposes in its initial state, and at the time (2003) I thought it had some interesting things to offer, but being under a half an hour in length, I thought it was a bit spare, lo-fi and could have used at least another track, possibly more, to make it a worthy purchase. Also, the packaging from what I recall looked 'DIY.' Ferrara must have also realized this, for the new remastered version is everything the original was not: better sounding, contains a cool 8+-minute additional track, and comes in a very nice glossy trifold digipak.

The first part of the CD, "Black Candles & Pentagrams 'n Shit," is divided into two parts/tracks - "Risen, The Judas Moon" and "Errant Bodies." This takes up about a third of the CD. Dark ambient drones overlaid with a ringing sound, with some moaning and a slowly played bass clarinet melodic dirge in a minimalist format. Spooky stuff. "Mariam Matrem," a medieval Christian devotional song, is also divided into two parts/tracks - "Instrumental" and "Vocal." It's really a very nice recorder ensemble arrangement, and Shannon Wolfe does a nice job with the vocals in Latin. Clearly the most accessible portion of the CD, I guess this is what gives Cross Purposes its 'Cross.' The next track, "Stupid Blood" (penned by Howard Devoto during his Luxuria days) is sung competently by Bob Ayres, with a staccato recorder and woodwind sub-melody arrangement that reminds me very much of Tuxedomoon. Not my favorite track on the CD, but still very well done. The final track, "Mesozoica," was done in collaboration with Ure Thrall and is very dark ambient. Heavy, Lustmordian and ominous. Ferrara's woodwind work on this track gives this doom-laden piece its ultimate eeriness. I love it!

Cross Purposes is a worthy purchase, for it packs a lot of variety into only about 37 minutes. Fans of Current 93, Death In June, Lustmord, Tuxedomoon, Raison d'Etre and similar projects should take note.

- Steve Mecca
www.chaindlk.com

HEATHEN HARVEST - 15 May 2009

Forms of Things Unknown is the creative endeavor of multi-instrumentalist Ferrara Brain Pan. Cross Purposes was originally released in 2002, and this particular CD is a reissued and remastered version which features a previously unreleased track, "Mesozoica." Taking into account the long and varied history of Ferrara Brain Pan, Cross Purposes is an interesting combination of electronic, acoustic, minstrel, ambient and drone. Trying to combine all that in one CD sounds daunting, but the effect here is one that sounds effortless. In fact, it sounds natural, a blending of history and future together.

Tracks I and II are grouped under the label "Black Candles & Pentagrams 'n Shit." The two pieces are ambient and drone based, with woodwinds hovering overhead. Two slow and doom-like dirges, yet modern and light. The next two tracks (III and IV) fall under the heading of "Mariam Matrem." They feature a minstrel sound of recorders and flutes, a soft psalm of a melody, and in actual fact a 14th-Century devotional song. Vocals by Shannon Wolfe highlight the aptly named "Vocal," which is a continuation of "Instrumental." A bright soprano vocal carries out the hymn. A cover of Howard Devoto's "Stupid Blood" is next. This could easily be considered a single off of this CD. Strong vocals featuring Bob Ayres, flutes and recorders give the song a strong and momentous feel. As soon as the saxophone kicked in, I was reminded instantly of Roxy Music. The last track, "Mesozoica," is a previously unreleased bonus track, clocking in at just over eight minutes of sounds washing over your senses. Distant sounding drums, static and echoes of woodwinds swirl and sweep around you.

There are two things that are paramount on this release. One is the cohesiveness of the arrangements; the other is the contradiction of the instruments used. Contradiction in that the sounds and instruments, on paper, would seem to contradict each other. Recorders, samples, clarinets, effects, Tibetan bowls, drum loops and a saxophone? Maybe so, but once recorded it makes sense. Each instrument and vocal seems innate to the piece. Nothing feels out of place or pretentious. The past and the future are merged into reality. The arrangements in themselves sound modern and fresh. Yet there is an atmosphere of antiquity. Not in the sense that it is old or out dated, but primal. Old and new joined in a fluidity of sound that connects it all together.

- Viktorya
www.heathenharvest.com

WONDERFUL WOODEN REASONS - April 2009

Forms of Things Unknown is the work of a San Franciscan composer, the eccentrically named Ferrara Brain Pan, and Cross Purposes is an apt title for what emerges to be a diverse but slightly frustrating journey.

Stylistically this EP wanders a meandering path, and instrumentally there is much to recommend. FBP's (primarily) breath-powered instrumentation is engrossing, particularly on the vocal-free sections of the album. As is often the case for me, it is the vocals that push me away. Here they are contained to two consecutive tracks that dominate the middle of the CD. The first attempts a sort of medieval troubadour kinda thing that, while being well enough done, moved me not. The second vocal track is more... well... I'm not sure what it's trying to be really. Again, I like the music but the vocals and the lyrics are just piffle.

I really do think FOTU have got something interesting going on here, but I don't think I'm the one to elucidate on just what that is. It all hovers a little too close to the Current 93 & Coil end of the spectrum (which isn't really my cup of tea), but it is extremely well made, and if you are a fan of the aforementioned bands then you should do yourself a favour and check this out.

www.wonderfulwoodenreasons.co.uk

AQUARIUS RECORDS - New Releases, 9 January 2009

Cross Purposes is chock full of weird, spooky music from longtime AQ patron and obscure music-maker Ferrara Brain Pan. Yes, that's his name - but here he goes by the Forms Of Things Unknown moniker, a suitably vague and creepy name for this disc of Gothic dark ambient experimentation that seems to be vying for retroactive inclusion on the famed Nurse With Wound list.

The first track, evocatively named "Black Candles & Pentagrams 'n Shit," is sixteen minutes of sinister drone and wind instrument dolefulness. On this album, Ferrara plays bass clarinet, flutes, recorders, saxophones, along with various other mostly archaic and/or ethnic instruments - and electronics too, of course. Perhaps to illustrate that FOTU's influences are eclectic and extend back further than the goth/industrial heyday, "Black Candles..." is followed by an anonymous 14th-century composition in both instrumental and vocal versions - the vocal by lovely soprano Shannon Wolfe, not Ferrara. It's somewhat sombre, but not scary like the first piece. Rather beautiful. Then, again shifting gears and displaying esoteric influence, this disc's next cut turns out to be a moody cover of "Stupid Blood," a song from the Beast Box album by Howard Devoto's post-Buzzcocks band Luxuria. With one Bob Ayres handling the portentous baritone vox, and Ferrara's horns and flutes, this track could just as easily be taken as a tribute to Peter Hammill's Van Der Graaf Generator! Ferrara concludes Cross Purposes with an unreleased track of elegiac dark ambience with haunted flute melodies floating on top of deep, slow motion thuds upon a drum and windswept atmospherics. Gone is the inclusion of Steve Stapleton leaving a message on Ferrara's answering machine, but that was probably an unneccessary trifle from the first edition anyway. The bonus track on this version is a much stronger, albeit less star-studded, attraction.

www.aquariusrecords.org 

PRESS REVIEWS OF CROSS PURPOSES

THE BRAINWASHED BRAIN - 1 August 2004

Forms of Things Unknown is primarily the work of multi-instrumentalist and windplayer Ferrara Brain Pan, who has previously played with Boyd Rice and legendary krautrockers Faust. For his debut EP as Forms of Things Unknown, the artist tackles a galaxy of wind instruments, including bass clarinet, saxophone, flute, recorder, Tibetan thighbone trumpet, didgeridoo and shakuhuchi. Multiple overdubs and liberal sonic mutations push the material into the sort of dark, uneasy territories occupied by Coil and Nurse With Wound, who seem to have exerted heavy influence on Mr. Pan. The first two tracks are two movements of the same 16-minute piece, amusingly entitled "Black Candles & Pentagrams 'n Shit." Extended tape loops of the aforementioned horns circulate slowly, as deep, vibratory foghorns blow across a murky lagoon at midnight. Occasional swipes of backwards-tracked sound contribute a ritualistic mood to the proceedings, but the artist gracefully, breathlessly bends and bows his performance to mesmeric effect. The next two tracks represent an instrumental and vocal arrangement of an anonymously composed 14th Century devotional song. Monsieur Pan plays his courtly medieval recorders with aplomb, and vocalist Shannon Wolfe beautifully renders the Latin lyrics. The song is immediately reminiscent of Shirley and Dolly Collins and other 1960's neo-medievalists, and that's enough to keep me smiling for weeks. The last track is an unorthodox arrangement of UK punk legend and former Buzzcock Howard Devoto's "Stupid Blood," from his latter day Luxuria project. The song trips along at its own turgid pace, with Mr. Pan providing pleasurable blasts of layered brass and vocalist Bob Ayres delivering the lyrics in a stately baritone. The EP ends with an incredibly brief answering machine message left for Ferrara Brain Pan by one Babs Santini, which has prompted the artist to label each copy of this EP with a sticker declaring "Special guest appearance by Steven Stapleton of Nurse With Wound," thus hopefully luring unsuspecting NWW completists to buy his music. However misleading and manipulative this strategy seems, I don't think avid Nurse fans would be disappointed by Cross Purposes in the slightest, should they be tricked into purchasing it. On the contrary, this is a dynamic and intriguing work, just the sort of thing your average NWW fan would be in for.

- Jonathan Dean
www.brainwashed.com/brain

TERRORIZER - Issue 112, September 2003

The bloke behind this, San Franciscan Ferrara Brain Pan, plays two Tibetan human thighbone trumpets at once on the opening epic, and reports for constant attempts on his life on behalf of the FBI, as well as being punched in the nose by Bill Clinton. He has also worked with Boyd Rice and Faust in the past and guests on a phone message from Nurse With Wound's Steven Stapleton on this album. Which is a masterpiece.

Opener 'Black Candles & Pentagrams 'n' Shit' is a 16-minute piece of abstract, minimalist, cold, dark, sick, sinister doom avant-jazz. Followed by a heartbreaking medieval Christian devotional song, followed by a cover of Howard Devoto's 'Stupid Blood' which channels all that reeked of death in the '80s, the neo-decadent side of it. The Philip Glass-ish keyboard drone and the different horns FBP uses, branching r [sic] perhaps aliens have taken over his fingers and are demanding riffs, around me like a dead tree. That is true decadence - making the fallen, the weak, the sick, luminescent in a bleak, eerie light of pale majesty.

Rating: 9 (out of 10)

- Avi Pitchon
www.terrorizer.com

DELUGE - 28 September 2003

This disc arrived with a sticker which says "File under Dark Ambient/Goth/Art Rock/Experimental". Unfortunately, these terms have become rather ambiguous due to the sheer number of bands who are (mis)labeled as such. Journalists have a funny way of subjectively applying genre tags to everything they hear, with little regard for how they might be misconstrued. This is the reason that everything from Wishbone Ash to Magma gets slapped with the "progressive rock" tag, while Naked City and Spyro Gyra end up together in the "jazz" bin. One would think that music journalists have an obligation to act as a sort of shore beacon. After all, they have taken it upon themselves to navigate through a complex mire of indiscernible styles and overlapping genres. They should ultimately emerge from this experience with a keen understanding of how their critical skills can be used to elicit clarity and coherence. Instead, their readers are often left with a series of vague comparisons and indistinct references which do nothing to guide them.

Forms of Things Unknown is the pet project of one Ferrara Brain Pan: an eccentric multi-instrumentalist whose accolades date back to 1977, when he paired up with veteran noise connoisseur Boyd Rice for a recording which never saw the light of day. To date, Brain Pan has remained prolific with a total of fourteen official recordings under his belt. His musical range covers everything from atmospheric works (with 23 Degrees and Darmstadt Pharmacy) to the experimental/psychedelic weirdness of Faust. For the sake of the uninitiated, we might best describe the latter outfit as a German band which (along with Amon Duul II) occupied the progressive rock sub-genre known as Kraut Rock. There is little point in describing this style any further, as words inevitably fail. But Brain Pan's mere association with such an inventive movement serves to distinguish him as an "artist's artist". His music can genuinely be called "esoteric", because its diversity and conceptual density will prevent less diligent ears from stepping any closer. It seems that rather than doing a disservice to the potential listener, the jacket sticker on "Cross Purposes" actually gives a good impression of what lies within.

This 30-minute EP begins with the humorously-titled "Black Candles & Pentagrams 'n Shit"; a track which covers just over half the album's duration. It is divided into two sections, the first of which is called "Risen, The Judas Moon". This cut begins with a sustained metallic ring which waxes and wanes in volume until the 3-minute mark is reached. Various woodwind instruments (which sound like reeds, or maybe some sort of oboe) begin to weave in and out of the mix, resulting in an ambiance of wailing, primal urgency. Occasional percussion rolls accentuate their lament as the woodwinds allow a low synth growl to bring them into the next section, "Errant Bodies". This track is slightly more structured than the previous entry, with a deep, resounding bassoon melody (or is it bass clarinet?) hanging over a subtle atmospheric backdrop. Before long, we're led into another two-part saga entitled "Mariam Matrem", which means "Mother Mary". This track is basically a re-arranged Christian hymn, which might imply that Brain Pan intended for "Cross Purposes" to illustrate some sort of religious dichotomy. Whatever the case, "Mariam Matrem" is a beautifully executed piece which features a multi-tracked Baroque melody, presumably played on flutes. The listener is gradually pulled into a soprano vocal section that is sung entirely in Latin. Those of us who are still recovering from the painful memories of a Catholic upbringing will find the performance of vocalist Shannon Wolfe very compelling, if not traumatic. It's almost comedic that so many horny young males are moved to orgasm by such singers as Cristina Scabbia (Lacuna Coil) or Anneke van Giersbergen (The Gathering) when a singer of Wolfe's aptitude is prowling about. Her performance occupies a range which is likely inaccessible to either of the aforementioned vocalists, and she truly rises to the occasion.

This disc comes to its conclusion with the song "Stupid Blood", which is a Howard Devoto cover. It begins with an ominous note sequence which sounds like it's being played on a keyboard, until closer inspection reveals that Brain Pan's woodwinds are the source. Rich baritone vocals soon enter the picture, with guest singer Bob Ayres creating a vibe that is melancholy, and yet eerily emotionless. The song ultimately progresses into a huge display of compositional grandeur, complete with a sax solo and intense interplay among various other horns and woodwinds. The song eventually develops into an odd, yet spectacular amalgam of instruments, which collectively evoke visions of a bagpipe quintet.

Material of this nature has a propensity for dullness when it becomes lengthy, and hence, unfocused. I would normally be grateful for a recording that lasts a mere 30 minutes, but in this case, it's not enough. It seems that the three pieces on "Cross Purposes" are complete, in the sense that drawing them out for longer durations would be pointless. Had three more tracks of similar material been added, this would have been a perfect release. Those who appreciate avant-garde music that resides a little "outside the box" will certainly enjoy Forms Of Things Unknown.

- Chris Alfano
www.delugezine.com

AQUARIUS RECORDS - New Releases, 8 August 2003

"Cross Purposes" is a half-hour of weird, spooky music from longtime AQ patron and obscure music-maker Ferrara Brain Pan. Yes, that's his name - but here he goes by the Forms Of Things Unknown moniker, a suitably vague and creepy name for this disc of Gothic dark ambient experimentation, that seems to be vying for retroactive inclusion on the famed "Nurse With Wound list". Indeed, NWW's Steven "Babs Santini" Stapleton makes a guest appearance somewhere on here (see if you can find it)!

The first track, evocatively named "Black Candles & Pentagrams 'n Shit", is sixteen minutes of sinister drone and wind instrument dolefulness. On this album, Ferrara plays bass clarinet, flutes, recorders, saxophones, along with various other mostly archaic and/or ethnic instruments -- and electronics too of course. Perhaps to illustrate that FoTU's influences are eclectic and extend back further than the goth/industrial heyday, "Black Candles..." is followed by an anonymous 14th century composition in both instrumental and vocal versions -- the vocal by lovely soprano Shannon Wolfe, not Ferrara. It's somewhat sombre, but not scary like the first piece. Rather beautiful. Then, again shifting gears and displaying esoteric influence, this disc's final cut turns out to be a moody cover of "Stupid Blood", a song from the Beast Box album by Howard Devoto's post-Buzzcocks band Luxuria. With one Bob Ayres handling the portentous baritone vox, and Ferrara's horns and flutes, this track could just as easily be taken as a tribute to Peter Hammill's Van Der Graaf Generator!

www.aquariusrecords.org 

ALMOSTCOOL - 17 October 2003

Based on written word alone, it would be easy to shuffle off Cross Purposes by Forms Of Things Unknown as a load of pretentious twaddle. Created by a fellow who goes by the name of Ferrara Brain Pan, this 5-track, 30-minute EP runs the gamut from dark ambient to medieval-sounding wind instrumentals. Listening to the release, though, it's obvious that Pan has a good handle on creating ominous environments with a rather stunning array of musical instruments.

Although primarily a windplayer, Brain Pan also breaks out just about any somewhat archaic instrument that helps him accomplish his goals. In addition to the more traditional flutes, saxophone, and bass clarinet, he plays a harmonium, Tibetan singing bowls, a glockenspiel, a yidaki (the Aboriginal name for the native Australian didgeridoo), a shakuhachi (Japanese bamboo flute), a kang ling (a Tibetan Buddhist ritual instrument made from a human thighbone), and others.

The album leads off with "Black Candles And Pentagrams 'N Shit," a 16-minute rumbling drone epic that is the standout of the album. The two-piece track starts out with the segment "Risen, The Judas Moon," and it's literally some of the creepiest music I've listened to since early work by Coil. Blending skittering electronic effects with cut-up glockenspiel and layers of haunting noise, it's far creepier than any Halloween sound effects record you could hope to find. One of the wind instruments played in the first part of the track (most likely the thighbone trumpet) actually sounds like the wails of a disembodied spirit. The second part of the track ("Errant Bodies") continues some of the same background noises, but brings a repeated bass clarinet melody in that amazingly lightens the mood slightly (despite the gloomy sound of the instrument) after the rather chilling opening section.

The remaining tracks on the disc are about as contrasting as you could expect given the dense opening. "Mariam Matrem" is a 14th Century devotional Christian song with nice vocals by Shannon Wolfe (recalling work by Miranda Sex Garden), while the album closer is a rather overbearing cover of "Stupid Blood." Given the rather timeless feel of the first part of the release, the final track is simply a bit too much for the otherwise understated release. Given that this is a debut release, the slight indecision can be overlooked a bit. With a guest appearance by Steven Stapleton of Nurse With Wound (under a different name), the short disc already has a small stamp of authority. For fans of Coil, Nurse With Wound, and other musick.

Rating: 7

- Aaron Coleman
www.almostcool.org

PROGRESSION - Issue 45, Winter/Spring 2004

Style: Dark ambient / gothic / art-rock
Sound: Three-and-one-half Stars / Composition: Four Stars / Musicianship: Four Stars / Performance: Four Stars
Total Rating: 15.5

This artful, delicately paced and beautifully formulated album makes its purposes known slowly. It comprises three sections, "Black Candles & Pentagrams 'n Shit," an ambient two-parter; "Mariam Matrem," an instrumental and vocal arrangement of a 14th-Century choral piece; and "Stupid Blood," a Devoto/Jones cover rethought along the lines of high modernism and early Philip Glass.

On "Black Candles," multi-instrumentalist Ferrara Brain Pan develops a throbbing, hypnotic, trance-linear theme by layering oriental drone instruments and a high-end whine (yidaki, psaltery, kang lings, Tibetan bowls and tingshas) as foundation for bass clarinet, flute and recorder melodies. This meditative, brilliant fusion of East and West echoes Aaron Copland, Stravinsky and German industrialists Einsturzende Neubauten, and repays careful attention to its glacial orchestration of motifs.

"Mariam Matrem" keeps intact the spirit and progression of the medieval composition; and "Stupid Blood" deconstructs punk roots into minimalist shards, reminiscent of David Byrne's "The Catherine Wheel." Highly recommended.

- Alex S. Johnson
www.progressionmagazine.com

ELD RICH PALMER - 19 September 2004

A shortish (about 30 minutes) debut from up-to-now unknown to me windplayer Ferrara Brain Pan flashed up like a falling fireball on a starless sky. Confronting it with a quite big set of noise or atonal works I happened to have consumed recently, Cross Purposes, filled up with actual music, strikes me with doubled strength. At the very first sight the release's attractiveness lies in its catchy name and also in the fact that the man behind Forms Of Things Unknown is the former collaborator of Boyd Rice, Amon Duul and Faust, a co-founder of ambient dub project 23 Degrees, and part of dark ambient duo Darmstadt Pharmacy. So, it gets more and more likely that it's going to be a good album. The first listen proves it, and the next ones just confirm it - we have some excellent stuff here! Cross Purposes is comprised of three compositions of different kinds, but all with the same intriguing vibes. The opening 16-minute opus 'Black Candles & Pentagrams 'n Shit' smacks of a sonic ritual - subtle electro dronings and the vibraphone (at least it sounds like one) cast a spell on the listener. Minimalist means, but what effects! Somewhere between Tuxedomoon, Ksiezyc (Poland) and 23 Skidoo, or Last Few Days (but in much softer forms). As I said, Ferrara Brain Pan is a windplayer, and he plays his magical music on such instruments as bass clarinet, alto & sopranino sax, C flute and alto flute, Tibetan bowls & tingshas. With the 2nd composition 'Mariam Matrem', we get a chance to fall back into the Middle Ages - the 14th-Century devotional Christian song featuring the beautiful voice of Shannon Wolfe that enchants us with warm and gentle timbre. Reminiscences of Jordi Savall's music come to my mind automatically. A cover of UK punk legend Howard Devoto's 'Stupid Blood' completes the set and differs much (I guess) from the original version - what we get here is a sort of mixture between medieval-influenced Elijah's Mantle and Tuxedomoon. Definitely a name to watch!!!

- Krzysztof Sadza
www.eldrichpalmer.org

MUZIK.ALUTIS - 5 December 2003

Kalifornijos ambiento projektas, siais kompiuterizacijos laikais nustebines naudodamas tiek daug gyvu ir egzotisku instrumentu, vilko staugimo jrasu. Visa tai sudaro gana tamsia ir net pasakyciau satanistine nuotaika. Vietomis labai primena tautieciu IVTKYGYG kuryba "Linkejimai Falkenhanui" laikotarpiu. Pacituosim FluxEurope parasyta recenzija... (see next review)

www.muzik.alutis.lt

FLUX-EUROPA - 28 Aug 2003

Short and sweet, this is the debut recording under this moniker of one Ferrara Brain Pan, a San Francisco multi-instrumentalist with a long and varied history, his work running the full gamut from noise to goth to dark ambient. The promo is accompanied by an extraordinary press pack which contains, amongst other things, a statement by Brain Pan, in which he details the various wrongdoings he has suffered over the last fifteen years or so. "In 1993, while fishing at the waterfront park in Seattle, I was assaulted by President Clinton, who was visiting the city. ATF agents took my image and made an animal out of it. The Messiah wanted me to be his son and ordered me to be the King of this country. People have been buried on the moon and hooked into a space satellite. I am the only one who can save this world before it is too late".

Given all this the CD is a surprisingly coherent and well-rendered little effort. Brain Pan's version of Howard Devoto's 'Stupid Blood', owing much to the vocal talents of Bob Ayres, is genuinely spine chilling, and the sixteen minutes devoted to 'Black Candles & Pentagrams 'n Shit' is time well spent on a classic piece of dark ambient noodling. The disc features a much heralded cameo from Babs Santini, AKA Steven Stapleton, although this would appear to be limited to a few words spoken at the end of the recording. Anyway, this is pretty spooky stuff.

- Stewart Gott
www.fluxeuropa.com

COMPULSION - January 2004

Cross Purposes is a mCD lasting only 30 or so minutes, but it sure covers a lot of territory with musical versatility. Cross Purposes is the debut release from the peculiarly titled Forms of Things Unknown, a solo-project from peculiarly titled multi-instrumentalist Ferrara Brain Pan. Brain Pan appears to be a veteran of the San Francisco music scene, having recorded with Boyd Rice on the unreleased 'This Priceless Recording' during the Seventies, recording in some goth outfit Bad Alchemy, appearing uncredited on Faust's Rien, and being a member of the dark ambient duo Darmstadt Pharmacy.

Cross Purposes takes elements from all of these myriad influences and adds a number of woodwind and folk instruments to Christian devotional songs, Howard Devoto covers and some original electronic and organic compositions. The first track, 'Black Candles & Pentagrams 'n Shit', is a shimmering piece of ambient brilliance offset by sinister bass clarinet and creepy percussion. It's followed by 'Mariam Matrem', a sombre Spanish medieval composition initially performed on flute, and then with operatic vocals from Shannon Wolfe. The final track in this eclectic collection is a cover version of Luxuria's 'Stupid Blood', penned by Howard Devoto, over some serious flute and brass arrangements.

Cross Purposes is an interesting mix of styles that despite its fanciful efforts works particularly well; the sinister drone of the opener is well worth hearing. The brief appearance of Babs Santini (aka Nurse With Wound's Steven Stapleton) may help put Cross Purposes in perspective. Overall an interesting release that should be pursued by the more adventurous.

- Tony Dickie
www.compulsiononline.com

NO WARNING! - No 40, October 2004

Forms Of Things Unknown e la creatura di Ferrara Brain Pan, polistrumentista proveniente da San Francisco e unico responsabile con il suo ampio parco di strumenti a fiato delle arcane sonorita contenute in questo debut EP. Il nome del progetto, per i piu curiosi, e tratto da A Midsummer Night's Dream di William Shakespeare; ma Forms Of Things Unknown e solo l'ultimo act in ordine temporale a cui partecipa il titolare, le cui prime produzioni discografiche risalgono agli anni '70 quando Ferrara Brain Pan collaboro con il pioniere della musica noise Boyd Rice. In seguito fece parte di Bad Alchemy, poi del progetto ambient dub 23 Degrees quindi del dark-ambient duo Darmstadt Pharmacy. Da segnalare inoltre nel 1994 un'apparizione su Rien dei Faust. Lo sticker che accompagna questo Cross Purposes suggerisce di catalogare l'EP sotto le etichette dark ambient, goth, art rock ed experimental, il che puo darvi un'idea di massima di cio che ci apprestiamo a trattare; di rock (art o meno) in realta non ve n'e traccia, siamo semmai in un campo di sonorita doom spesso molto lugubri, che paragonerei a quelle di Paul Chain Violet Theatre per il tono sepolcrale delle due parti di 'Black Candles & Pentagrams 'n Shit', seppure l'approccio sia molto piu minimalista. Di stampo quasi rinascimentale si rivela 'Mariam Matrem', anche questa divisa in due parti delle quali la seconda e cantata dal soprano Shannon Wolfe, mentre la voce di Bob Ayres contribuisce a rendere la conclusiva 'Stupid Blood' prossima a certe cose da solista di Peter Hammill. Un lavoro interessante, seppur breve, che suscitera sicuramente l'interesse dei cultori delle sonoritИ piu arcane. Reperibile direttamente presso Forms Of Things Unknown.

- Luigi Ametta

digilander.libero.it/anewland/nowarn.htm

KOGAIONON - No 9, February 2004

Here we have plenty of talented musicians and one of them is Ferrara Brain Pan, a veteran of an unknown scene for those who may browse the book of Metal or Gothic accessories. He can be identified with some weird projects starting with the 70s and his musical palette includes Dark or Ambient echoes (23 DEGREES, DARMSTADT PHARMACY), Noise (BOYD RICE), Goth (BAD ALCHEMY) as well as the legendary FAUST. In this very case, this project orientation swings between Dark Ambient, Medieval, Rock and even Jazz. Thus, we can hear a variety of instruments such as clarinet, saxophone, flutes and other musical accessories for blowing beside sopranos, baritone... It is a real weirdness... an experiment but definitely an interesting one! Well, it actually has no possible connection with the musical field I write about for many years now... but it is interesting.

Rating: 0.82/1 (28.11)

www.kogaionon.com

IO PAGES - No. 50, February 2004

Zoals de File Under op deze CD al zegt: dark ambient, gothic, art rock en experimental zijn termen die inderdaad goed van toepassing zijn op het hier gebodene. De opener 'Black Candles & Pentagrams 'n Shit' klinkt als de aarde in de ochtend van zijn bestaan. Kleine, onderhand uitgestorven dieren schieten weg in hun donkere holen, de wind klinkt als een verlaten sirene. Toch blijft het niet bij deze donkere atmosferen waarbij leider Ferrara Brain Pan de nodige exotische instrumenten uit de kast trekt, want het tweede deel bestaat uit langzamedreigende geluiden op de basklarinet: een prachtige atmosfeer wordt hier neergezet. Op het veertiende-eeuwse 'Mariam Matrem' komen de klassieke invloeden naar boven. Dit klinkt wel een beetje dun, vooral door de spaarzame arrangementen, hoogstens twee instrumenten tegelijk. Hetzelfde religieuze nummer wordt nog eens dunnetjes overgedaan door een zangeres, nog steeds een beetje dun naar mijn smaak. De stijl gaat door de zang wat richting Karda Estra. Erg sterk is de art rock van het afsluitende nummer 'Stupid Blood'. Net als 'Mariam Matrem' is dit een cover, maar dan van een stuk recenter werkje. Howard Devoto (Magazine, Buzzcocks) schreef het met ene Jones voor zijn band Luxuria. De zang is apart, niet helemaal vast, maar daardoor is de voordracht des te sterker. Het doet me zowel denken aan John Cale en, iets minder, Peter Hammill, met verwijzingen naar Roxy Music. Kontact: enantiodromia23@yahoo.com.

- Jurriaan Hage
www.net4u.nl/io

CHAIN D.L.K. - 3 November 2003

With this Shakespeare-inspired band name, San Francisco based multi-instrumentalist windplayer, sound experimentator, mail artist Ferrara Brain Pan inaugurates his new musical project as well as his new label Panaxis. The artist has previously recorded with noisester Boyd Rice aka Non, the goth-rockers Bad Alchemy, the ambient/dub project 23 Degrees, the legendary Faust, and co-founded the dark ambient duo Darmstadt Pharmacy. Currently he is playing with free jazz ensemble Jazz Trannies and drone project Dromedary as well - and if I may suggest this, a person with such a deep knowledge of wind instruments from all over the world should definitely hook up with Italian multi-wind-instrumentalist Gregorio Bardini because they would really make a match of windplayers that would (dare I say) 'blow' you away!

Cross Purposes (also guest-featuring Steven Stapleton of Nurse With Wound) presents part of this knowledge in medieval compositions that might remind you of The Soil Bleeds Black or other similar bands, and pairs it up with dark ambient experimental music and art rock. Even though there is no specific musical reason to say this, the whole vibe of the record kind of reminds me of Death In June as well. The EP goes from instrumental to vocal and definitely keeps an organic approach, even though it feels a little discontinuous because of the genres, so apart from each other, brought together in just the short time of thirty minutes. But on the other hand I never found myself objecting to cross-pollinations of styles, so would I object to "Cross Purposes"?

- Marc Urselli-Schårer
www.chaindlk.org

METAL MANIACS - January 2004

I really didn't know how to take this band from the minute I listened to it. This is mellow, dramatic dark ambience played with layers of everything from flutes, saxophones and clarinets to a yidaki, a 30-string zither, kang lings and a shakuhachi. It all forms symphonic coatings of subtle but obviously well-prepared passages, yet as I read the song titles accompanying these musical visions I see the first one slated as "Black Candles & Pentagrams 'n Shit." Not something fitting the serious setting of the song. I'm left rather impressed overall, but after 45 minutes of instrumental experimentation and chilling tones, vocals enter the last song like a turd on your birthday cake. Man, these are some seriously bad vocals! "Stupid Blood" carries the same weight as the rest of the album, but that crooning has just screwed up my whole listening experience. Turns out it's a cover of UK new-wave legend Howard Devoto. Another track is a cover of a 14th Century Christian devotional song.

The craftsman of this evil project, Ferrara Brain Pan, was also apparently set up by judges for false sexual assault charges, fired upon by the Air Force while working, assaulted by the Secret Service while attempting to approach President Clinton, brainwashed in an asylum and injected by the government with AIDS, gonorrhea and guerrilla germs, harassed by the FBI, CIA, ATF, and oh man, so much more crazy stories that either make this dude completely insane, really creative, or totally full of shit, but the first four songs of this disc are pretty sick, complete with a Steven Stapleton guest shot. The site is worth checking out for some music and some really crazy stories, but it might really toot your flute if you're into maybe late Ulver or Burzum stuff, and envisioning doped-up carny gnomes shaving goats in the moonlight.

- Dave Brenner
www.metalmaniacs.com

INDUSTRIAL.ONEGO.RU - 26 December 2003

За названием Forms Of Things Unknown стоит личность, называющая себя Ferrara Brain Pan, и удивительное дело - хотя "Cross Purposes" является его дебютным релизом, в музыкальном (околомузыкальном) бизнесе он уже достаточно давно, успев поработать с Boyd Rice в 70х, Bad Alchemy в 80х, 23 Degrees (начало 90х), Faust, и Darmstadt Pharmacy. По всей видимости в целях привлечения внимания к диску на нем не раз упоминается "специальное появление Steven Stapleton из Nurse With Wound", однако это скорее рекламная уловка, чем реальное сотрудничество. Впрочем, и без Stapleton'а здесь есть чем поживиться эстетствующему меломану. Три трека (первая и вторая, а также третья и четвертая позиции объедены в, соответственно, две единые композиции), три разных оттенка. 'Black Candles & Pentagrams 'n Shit' - мрачнейшая вещица, состоящая из двух слоев: гулово-звенящего и воздушно-духового. Из отдаленных уголков Интернета доходят сведения, будто Ferrara Brain Pan - настоящий "музыкант ветра", использующий всевозможные воздуходувные инструменты для создания своих творений. Наверное, особенно это ярко выражено в 'Mariam Matrem', фолковой песне, сооруженной из печальной флейты и женского вокала (во второй части). Завершающая диск песня 'Stupid Blood' является кавер-версией панк-легенды Howard Devoto, выполненной также с оттенком фолка, однако на этот раз, он ближе к тому, что делали Endura. Итак, весьма недурственная первая ласточка нового музыкального явления под названием Forms Of Things Unknown, и даже если покупателя привлек лишь ярлычок "Special Guest Appearance by Steven Stapleton of Nurse With Wound", он вряд ли будет сильно разочарован.

- Lev Levin
industrial.onego.ru

SEIDR - April 2004

Мультиинструменталист и художник Ferrara Brain Pan из Сан-Франциско, начав свою деятельность еще в конце 70-х, сотрудничал с такими командами, как Boyd Rice / NON, Bad Alchemy, 23 Degrees, Faust и Darmstadt Pharmacy. Данный мини-альбом, изданный в 2003 году, представляет собой музыкальный дебют, в котором также приняли участие саксофонисты Шэннон Вульф и Боб Айрес, плюс специальный гость - Стивен Стэплтон, скрывшийся под псевдонимом "Бабз Сантини".

Три композиции представляют музыканта в самом широком спектре: от ритуального дарк-эмбиента ("Black Candles & Pentagrams 'n Shit") до медиевального "нового минимализма" ("Mariam Matrem") и клавишного арт-рока в духе Van der Graaf Generator (кавер панк-хита Говарда Девото "Stupid Blood"). В его арсенале - кларнеты, саксофоны, флейты, цитры; австралийские, японские и тибетские инструменты; не говоря уже о сэмплерах и синтезаторах.

Все очень продуманно, очень качественно. Подобный альбом сделает честь любому музыканту и, безусловно, заинтересует любого поклонника электроакустической музыки.

Один лишь минус - при всем при том звучит отчего-то не слишком интересно...

- Shelley
seidr.woods.ru

AXIOM OF CHOICE - 9 March 2004

Opener 'Black Candles & Pentagrams 'n Shit' is a more atmospheric than purely melodic piece. Most dominant are a somewhat grating and at times somewhat abrasive tape loop overlaid with more melodic sounding bass clarinet. This is pretty minimalist. 'Mariam Matrem' is a medieval sounding piece: the melody is played with flute with chanting vocals, undoubtedly in Latin. The piece, apparently, is from the 14th Century. Both an instrumental and a vocal version of the piece are featured. 'Stupid Blood' is a Devoto/Jones cover, played with an almost rhythmically applied harmonium-like [keyboard], later augmented with bagpipes (or what sounds like those), bass clarinet and flute. [Bob] Ayres' vocals are fitting for the atmosphere, somewhat opera-like, but not so heavy sounding.

Mind you, this is not progressive music in its regular form. In fact, I wouldn't even call it avant prog: this is avant-garde. The combination of experiment, atmosphere and melody works into a result that is as balanced as it it diverse. Not exactly accessible, and probably considered too abrasive at some times by some, this is a very strong experimental album.

- Roberto Lambooy
www.cs.uu.nl/people/jur/progrock.html

EQUINOXE - Issue 24, Summer 2004

Diese Veroffentlichung veranlasste mich dazu, ein Interview mit Ferrara Brain Pan zu machen, da es eine der interessantesten und seltsamsten Veroffentlichungen der letzten Monate ist. Das minialbum ist eine auf den ersten Blick seltsame Zusammenstellung hochst heterogener Musiken: das sechzehnminutige und in zwei Teile gesplittete 'Black Candles & Pentagrams 'n Shit' ist sicher musikalisch betrachtet das Kernstuck des Minialbums. Was Ferrara Brain Pan hier dem Horer offeriert, ist nichts weniger als ein auf Blasinstrumenten gespieltes (und eben nicht erzeugtes) Dark Ambient-Stuck, in das nach etwa drei Minuten weitere Klange einbrechen, die vielleicht so klingen, wie man sich Wehklagen vorstellen kann. Der Ubergang zum zweiten Teil ist fliessend, aber bemerkbar. 'Errant Bodies' ist weniger bedrohlich, vermittelt aber eine unterschwellige Ruhe vor dem Sturm, die Gansehaut verursacht. Nach diesen dusteren, durch die Titel okkult (aber auch ironisch gebrochen) verorteten Stucken folgen zwei Versionen (instrumental und vokal) eines christlichen Liedes. Im direkten Vergleich mit dem Beginn ist das weniger spektakular, vielleicht ist man durch den inflationaren (musikalischen und meistens naiv anmutenden) Rekurs auf das Mittelalter schon abgehartet, aber dennoch: 'Mariam Matrem' schlagt so manches, was sich auf einschlagigen Samplem findet. Beendet wird das Album mit einem weiteren Cover (diesmal stammt das Original von Howard Devoto): 'Stupid Blood', ahnlich songorientiert wie 'Mariam Matrem', bei dem der Gastsanger Bob Ayres erneut von einer Reihe von Blasinstrumenten unterstutzt wird: Das ist Pathos, den man sich gefallen lassen kann und selbst die Saxophoneinlage kann ich geniessen. Dass Babs Santini (vulgo Steven Stapleton) noch kurz als veranlassen das Album zu kaufen - hochstens in Kombination mit der eigentlichen Musik, die ist namlich ganz, ganz gross. Wer hier vorschnell Irrationalismus ruft, dem sei das Konzeptionelle, Durchdachte in Erinnerung gerufen, mit dem Gegensatze ("Cross Purposes" eben) kontrastiert werden, um aus These und Antithese eine Synthese zu erhalten. Zu beziehen uber Drone oder direkt auf der Website: www.formsofthingsunknown.com.

- Michael Gottert
www.equinoxe-magazin.de

PROG-RESISTE - Issue 37, July 2004

Album bien etrange que ce Cross Purposes, court de meme pas une demi-heure mais cela m'a amplement suffi car il s'agit en fait d'une musique obscure, etrange, inquietante parfois, divisee en trois parties relativement differentes. La premiere est faite de bruits divers, bizarres avec une sorte de sirene (pas la femme-poisson mais l'usine - j'ai pas dit Melusine!) en toile de fond. C'est a mon avis une plage, qui au depart etait sensee propice au recueillement, a l'introspection mais ca m'a irrite tres vite et tres beaucoup (si, si!!!) Il y a heureusement un saxophone qui vient chapeauter tout ce bazar et rendre cette musique plus acceptable mais j'ai quand meme failli me barrer vite fait. On m'avait dit que c'etait atmospherique, minimaliste et epure. Je voyais pas ca comme ca. Minimaliste melodiquement alors! La deuxieme partie fait plus reference au Moyen-Age vu l'utilisation de clarinettes, de flutes, vu le chant feminin en latin et vu le theme religieux. C'est celle-ci que je prefere. La troisieme, d'une banalite consternante, plus profane est chantee en anglais par un baryton accompagne par toute une serie d'instruments archaiques et ethniques (yidaki, psaltery, tingshas) et quelques instruments modernes quand meme (synthes, samplers, sax...)

Pas grande chose d'autre a dire car rien sous la dent (ou dans l'oreille) a se mettre. Peut mieux faire. Beaucoup mieux. Et que voulez-vous que je mette comme cote la-dessus?

- Jean-Luc Pierard
www.progresiste.com

FUNPROX - 7 October 2003

Forms of Things Unknown is a new project by a man who calls himself Ferrara Brain Pan, who is a wind-musician. Ferrara Brain Pan uses all sorts of wind instruments to create his music, ranging from various flutes to saxophone to different ethnical instuments such as the yidaki and the shakuhachi. Ferrara Brain Pan is probably known only by a few for his collaborations with Boyd Rice (NON) which remain unreleased, Faust and Darmstadt Pharmacy (with Ure Thrall of Asia Nova).

On this 30-minute MCD, Ferrara Brain Pan delivers a strange mix of dark ambient, dark folk and experimental music. The two dark ambient tracks are really excellent and haunting. These are followed by three tracks of mediaeval influenced folk songs (consisting of flute and voice). These folk songs are very strange and remind me of something Current 93 could have made. The use of two styles makes this CD a very strange release. I must say I like the dark ambient tracks a lot more than the folk tracks and it would be better to release separate ambient and folk CDs I think.

I hope to see more releases by Ferrara Brain Pan, especially a full-length dark ambient album. It would be nice to see a re-release of the excellent Darmstadt Pharmacy release for example, which is a recording of Ferrara Brain Pan and Ure Thrall doing a live set. Unfortunately only 100 CDRs were made of this and it is long sold out. Being a happy owner of one copy, I can definitely recommend it.

- TD
 www.funprox.com

EAR/RATIONAL - New Releases, 22 November 2003

This crazy fellow has worked in the past with Faust and Boyd Rice. Now there is an eclectic mix. His current release, Cross Purposes, has an appearance by Steven Stapleton/Nurse With Wound. The sounds on this hearken back to a bagpipe player in the pits and a bass clarinet player playing a solo requiem, all set in a cave that the devil gave to humans to abuse. Rumbles and hands reaching from below. This is the soundtrack to Dante's Inferno.

There is another side to this release, though, something along the lines of the folk music of Current 93. Maybe I heard this song in a past life while sitting around the fire in a castle from a traveling minstrel group. Then things go weird.

The artwork on the promo sleeve has me thinking of Nocturnal Emissions' release Invocation of the Beast Gods - that is, fur and skins, with a cute little cat peeking out. Most cats are far too funny looking to be evil.

  - DP
 www.ear-rational.com

DRONE RECORDS - New Releases, October 2003

Hinter diesem Project aus San Francisco verbirgt sich Ferrara Brain Pan, der auch mit Ure Thrall zusammengearbeitet hat. Cross Purposes besteht aus dunklen, handgespielten Drones, einem wundervollen mittelalterlichen Stuck mit Frauengesang, und einer sinistren Cover-Version eines Howard Devoto-Stuckes - absolut professionell produziert, mit einem Gastauftritt von Steven Stapleton!

www.dronerecords.de

NEO-ZINE - 10 March 2004

I really enjoyed listening to this. Of course, I am now as [sic] as a loon for doing so. It started out as a dark ambient recording, kind of morphed into a medieval darkwave thing, then abandoned everything and produced a simple bathroom ditty about the artist's penis.

The heart of the matter is that an artist named Ferrara Brain Pan happens to be a knowledgeable windplayer who can blow everything from flutes, saxes, clarinet, and recorders, as well as rarities such as Aboriginal didgeridoo, Japanese bamboo flute, and a thighbone trumpet used in Tibetan Buddhist rituals (yes, human thighbone). He also includes a 30-string zither, glockenspiel, and Tibetan singing bowls. This diversity and exoticism comes to the table in a brilliant but scattershot fashion.

www.neo-zine.com

MUSIC STREET JOURNAL - Issue 50, February 2005

Overall Review

This is a rare breed meant for a niche crowd. It is part of a clan that was prevalent in the soundtracks of seventies sci-fi movies. The music is both bizarre and mysterious at the same time. If you are into bands like Tangerine Dream that take lingering themes and stretch the notes for miles and miles, you may like this one. It isn't for everyone, but for those who like it, this will come as much needed treatment. It has all the therapeutic properties one would experience lying in a water chamber with ambient lighting and serene sound effects.

Track by Track Review

'Black Candles & Pentagrams n' Shit':
i. Risen, the Judas Moon - This takes us to Ray Bradbury's Martian Chronicles. The planet is desolate and dusty. Life exists outside the camp's borders, but it is hidden from sight behind huge rocks and inside subterranean alcoves. This piece is overall eerie and becomes quite unnerving at times.
ii. Errant Bodies - This is much of the same, spooky and relentless, and it is 50% longer than the first track. For those not into this sort of music, it will have them itching to start the launch sequence and head back home. The instrumentation reminds me of the opening sequence from The Outer Limits. There is nothing wrong with your television. The aliens are controlling the horizontal and the vertical.

'Mariam Matrem':
a. Instrumental - This is a change of pace as it is madrigal and medieval. As the title states, it is strictly instrumental. This is all it shares in common with the first two tracks.
b. Vocal - We continue with the theme from the previous song. Shannon Wolfe's soprano voice emerges. It sounds as if she is singing a religious chant.

'Stupid Blood': Each track is different from the next. The first is a real space oddity, the second is almost an opera act, and this one swoops into the nest of Birdsongs of the Mesozoic. Bob Ayres is the baritone credited for the singing in this stand-alone piece. Ferrara Brain Pan provides all the interesting wind instruments.

I'm sure some will find this album entertaining, and it is no doubt different from the rest of the pack. For what it's worth, the uniqueness of this blend will draw some near while others will hold their nose and scurry in the opposite direction from its pungent aroma. This isn't my cup of tea, but it will certainly meet the needs of those who prefer compositions that are spacey, atmospheric, and avant-garde.

- Joshua Turner

www.musicstreetjournal.com

ZOOKEEPER ONLINE - 9 December 2003
(KZSU Music Database)

Maybe conceptually and/or aesthetically these people are into heavy metal (ex: album title is a nod to a later-era Black Sabbath album of the same name, tracks named 'Black Candles & Pentagrams 'n Shit' and 'Risen, the Judas Moon'). On the other hand, musically this [is] somewhere around a mix of Nurse With wound and Lustmord and some other creepy-ass music.

(Track 1) Super-droney, bizarre & high-pitched. Lots of wolf howls (or is that a dog humming?) Overall, really fucked-up & dark ambience a la Lustmord, early Current 93 and/or Nurse With wound whose Steven Stapleton, er... 'Babs Santini', is on this track. No FCC's despite the 'not cool with the FCC' title.
(Track 2) Lots of brooding bass clarinet, more drones & other weirdness... I never thought a clarinet could sound 'grim' but they're getting there.
(Track 3) Nice, simple, regal & medieval-sounding flute.
(Track 4) Sounds a bit like the Italian 'early music' / folk band Atraxia. A Latin-sung tune from 15th-Century France. Really nice!
(Track 5) Bizarre Buzzcocks cover. I don't actually know the original but either way this is rather odd. Is it dodgy for us to play a song that has the line "My prick, my [very] spirit"? Other than that nothing else is, um, 'not ready for prime time' here.

- Ragnar of Ravensfjord
zk.stanford.edu

CONCERT AND GIG REVIEWS

DISQUIET - 2 October 2005

OAKLAND, CA - It began with someone playing a renaissance melody on a recorder and ended, four hours later, at midnight, with rough scraping noises amid a machine whine. In between there were dead bodies, a wicked game of Tempest and, according to the evening's host, "the only goth DJ who matters." It was the first night of the first ever Disquiet Festival (the name is a coincidence - the festival has no affiliation with this website), which brought together gothic industrial music and sound art in one dim white room. Held at the 21 Grand in Oakland, California, the September 30 concert featured four acts, with a DJ playing what the program noted as "interstitial" music in between. (The second night, October 1, which I was unable to attend, was set to feature four more acts: nO thiNg, a project by Loop.pooL's Rick Walker; the duo nullspace; Dark Muse and Frozen in Amber.)

Forms of Things Unknown, a solo act by a fellow who goes by the name Ferrara Brain Pan, took the stage first, playing a melody on his recorder that wouldn't have been out of place in Sherwood Forest. This shifted to a tape of a voice speaking, and soon a single phrase, an older man saying the two words "and sound," started to loop. For the remainder of the FoTU performance, looping was the focus, layering the blurts of a kazoo, the sinuous intonations of a bass clarinet, and a unique setup in which each of the performer's hands held a separate bow. When FoTU took a breath during his clarinet sequence, it became clear that the loop, about four seconds with an attenuated fade, gave the impression of intense breath control. The layering had a different impact depending on the instrument. With the kazoo (perhaps a duck call) it had a muezzin resonance, like a shofar call to worship. With the clarinet, phrases were able to overlap enough to present a patient, slowly developing sequence of long lines; he sounded like Eric Dolphy visiting Tuva. The bows were particularly remarkable. Though he wasn't especially ambidextrous, he was able to crosscut what sounded like two violins. Furthermore, the loop delay allowed him to build up a fast Hitchcockian run on one bow and a more sedentary line on the other. FoTU closed by returning to the recorder, which brought the listener out of the trance of those more extended interior pieces, in part because the recorder melody made little to no use of the delay, but also because it was a familiar sound, reprising what had opened the piece.

Filling the gap between each set was DJ Merrick (an Elephant Man reference?), who spun industrial buzz tones and dropped in vocal samples. Of the night's four acts, none meshed as cleanly with Merrick as did Whormongr (Wolfgang Chan), a solid figure with a slick of a Mohawk whose 35-minute set tumbled together shifting layers of static and noise, glitch and rhythm. Medical footage was projected in the background at first, archival images of hearts pumping and surgery being performed in rooms that looked like Twilight Zone sets. As if the footage weren't artifactual enough, superimposed on top were narrow vertical striations that made the images seem even more old and worn, but since these scratches didn't move along with the images, they had about as much verisimilitude as the trompe l'oeil condensation drawn into the design on soda cans. As Whormongr's rhythm intensified, the images changed from medical cadavers to war, poverty and, most abundantly, state-sponsored killing of prisoners. The images of dying people provided such a visceral presentation of dissolution, both moral and physical, that the music, for all its elegantly stripped gears and artful static, just couldn't compete. Pictures of the dead are a staple of goth culture, but sitting in a white room sipping Jim Beam on ice while one human being after another slumped to the ground with a bullet to the skull, it was difficult not to reflect on another recent situation in which images of brutalized prisoners served as entertainment.

Few acts today combine image and sound as successfully as do S.S.S., a trio from France. One of the members, Atau Tanaka, couldn't make the show, but the other two, Cecile Babiole and Laurent Dailleau, split the duties over the course of five short pieces. Palms raised, they looked at first like they were going to initiate a seance, but their hands were suspended in mid-air for more practical purposes. S.S.S. uses motion sensors as its primary interface, so both Babiole, controlling the visual projections, and Dailleau, the sound, stood nearly still, save for their hands. Babiole produced images that combined the look of an old video game and the elegance of digital art, while Dailleau worked a theremin to shape freeform sounds that ranged from field recordings to electronic tones. The performance opened with a slow roil against a background like some colorful game of Tempest, but when it came to a close, after only six minutes, people applauded tentatively, not out of disinterest in the music, but because the first two acts of the evening had set a precedent with their music-by-the-yard soundscapes; it took a moment to recognize that S.S.S. trafficked in individual pieces. Though Dailleau's music was interesting, especially moments that sounded like Conlon Nancarrow working an electric piano and another in which he appeared to reverse the tape of a plane crash, Babiole's simple kinetic digital images were just breathtaking. One was so musical in its motion that it seemed like Luc Ferrari's idea of Dance Dance Revolution. There were flowing grids of boxes you could watch for hours, minute variations in gray lending depth (a lesson some musicians could learn from). One work looked like the daydreams of a CAD machine, another like the cover to Joy Division's Unknown Pleasures album come to life. After 40 minutes, you had to wonder how tired their arms were.

How do you follow such great visuals? You hunker down in the dark, illuminated only by a laptop screen and the light seeping in from the alley, and let the music speak for itself. Doing just that, the temporary autonomous duo of Thomas Dimuzio and Dan Burke closed the evening with 40 minutes of noise improv. The collaboration marked a common theme for Dimuzio, who has a penchant for room-filling sounds, but who likes to work with people who specialize in the fragile. When they started their piece, Dimuzio and Burke might have seemed like they were still setting up. The reason was that Burke's primary instrument for the evening was a contact microphone, which amplified whatever he was doing on the table in front of him, well beyond the usual sense of scale. Occasionally those noises were overcome by Dimuzio's wash, but they also provided brief interludes in the storm. An early highpoint came when Dimuzio introduced the sound of a jazz band, and peaked it out amid the white noise. Burke apparently had trouble with his laptop, and had to reboot it a few times, but the familiar sound cue of an Apple boot easily got lost in the rapturous noise, just another sound among so many.

- Marc Weidenbaum
www.disquiet.com

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