Altered Zones

Synthesist Keith Fullerton Whitman had a modest haul of seven releases last year. While in some cases, one suspects prolificness may detract from quality, this is certainly not so with KFW. His Disingenuity b/w Disingenuousness LP on Pan made it onto The Wire's best of 2010 list, while a cassette he released under his Hrvatski moniker on Beniffer, Quickies b/w Butcher Shoppe, was praised by Demdike Stare in a recent Needle Exchange. Any way you look at it, Whitman is clearly at one with the synthesizer, and on "101105"--a condensed edit of a live performance KFW gave at a Brooklyn Bunker party in 2010, and now the a-side of a split with Alien Radio out on Dekoder -- he again shows his chops. Using the famed Modular Electronic Music System originally created by Don Buchla in 1963, Whitman's composition bubbles to life before fully flourishing into symphonic bliss. Amongst the swarm of sounds that vibrate, shimmer and skip in every direction, the track still retains the thread of a narrative arc, a testament to KFW's awareness for when to pare back and pile on the noise. As with contemporaries like Rene Hell, you can focus right down to the minute movements and flows in "101105", or stand back and take the piece as a whole. In both you can find frenzy and beauty. --Daniel Gottlieb, Altered Zones

Keith Fullerton Whitman: "101105"

The Keith Fullerton Whitman/Alien Radio s/t split is available from Dekoder now. Below, you can check out how KFW makes a boring day at the office a little more interesting.

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If you're familiar with Keith Fullerton Whitman's work, you'll know that he's a consummate composer of the electronic realm and a pretty sharp guy. However, exhaustion with the pristine sterility of his medium has led Whitman to find a way to harness a more human element into the process of electronic composition. "Generator" seeks to explore "the unpredictable entropies & slight signal degradation inherent to Analog instrument design." To achieve this, Whitman applies a process of sending multiple signals simultaneously to his instruments and a series of manual patches. The results are a rippling Komische universe that unfolds like binary birdsong. A completely engrossing work that's as hypnotic as it is technically astounding. (via Raven Sings The Blues)

MP3: Keith Fullerton Whitman: "Generator 1"

Released by Root Strata but currently out of print