Category: Atlas

“Bach is an improviser and soundscaper from California with an impressive pedigree. I must admit though that his is a new name to me.

From my reading of the press release he seems to operate very much within the area of lowercase music in this case derived from guitar feedback and field recordings. Now, I’ve always had a problematic relationship with lowercase, not from any dislike of the, admittedly few, things I’ve heard that use the name, just in the annoyance that such deliberately quiet music causes me. I like music to have a presence in the room; I like it to show itself. It doesn’t have to be demonstrative or showy it just needs to interact with my environment at a level where I don’t have to strain to hear. For the most part ‘Radia’ was drowned out by my environment. I had to have the stereo turned up to degree that made me uncomfortably paranoid that I’d forget I had done so when I changed the disc (this did in fact happen…twice) and also with the vague feeling that by cranking it up I had done an disservice to the idea of the album. You’ll notice of course that all these issues are with me and the genre not with the music at hand.

The thing I did discover when I turned everything up is that the music on ‘Radia’ is pretty damn good. It’s noise music but of a pretty rarefied and refined nature. The tracks offer a textural ambience that provides a pleasantly gritty atmosphere that is fun to move through. I just wish it was louder.”

–Ian Holloway, Wonderful Wooden Reasons
2 December 2012