Vibrations EP

Armed with his usual impressive array of obscure musical technology and, more importantly, the ability to create something fascinating with it, Sonic Boom continues his open-ended series of explorations with Experimental Audio Research into a new millennium with Vibrations. Again making EAR a solo project instead of a group effort, the five-track Vibrations is long enough to be an album and possesses plenty of treats along the way. As with most of his EAR work, while the general sonic principle remains the same (repetition, oscillations, and studio tweaking galore of "outdated/futuristic" instruments), the particular results here stand alone. The opener "Kalimbell," containing everything from random space burbles to what sounds like a glass rung then looped and relooped, makes for a great start. From there Sonic indulges his varying musical whims to lovely effect, from the semi-gamelan percussion hints and aggressive high drones on "Ring" to the rough, metallic gloom of "Tripple," making for another fascinating and curious view into EAR's world. ~ Ned Raggett|