The Aerial #2 CD/cassette (The Aerial AER 1990/2) 66 minutes

This is a compilation bringing together innovative music and audio art. Mostly they seem to include serious-minded, "respectable" composers. This issue, including a booklet with a couple of pages of information on each artist, focuses on so-called "environmental" sound, i.e. sounds recorded in the environment and manipulated to produce something at least vaguely musical, or music inspired by nature or the environment. Only a few of the ten tracks are duds, and even they are surrounded by some strange but wonderful music. Two examples: Poison Hotel, composed by Jon Raskin and Bob Davis, is a duet for two female voices combining strange counterpoint and a slightly bleak feeling to create a glacial little piece which I really enjoyed. David Dunn's(not fr/ nc jh) Chaos & The Emergent Mind of the Pond is a compilation of recordings from North American freshwater ponds, nine minutes of buzzings and clickings that are surprisingly satisfying and relaxing to listen to. A sense of the pond's wholeness is conveyed which drew me in completely. Those are far from all that make this a recommended item. [Available from Nonsequitur or These] (C) Brian Duguid 1995 or of the other original authors as noted