Amp Erase

Australian turntablist Martin Ng made a foray on the avant-garde music scene in 2001. Following CD collaborations with Oren Ambarchi (Reconnaissance, on Staubgold) and Jim Denley (Vergency, on Grob) appears Amperase, credited to the enigmatically named GCTTCATT, a duo of Ng and Farmersmanual's Mathias Gmachl. Another record and yet another facet of the artist's playing. He provides live DJ work, while Gmachl processes the data in real time. It results in frantic, schizophrenic sonic assaults where the work of the two musicians cannot be told apart. One is reminded of Otomo Yoshihide's incredible turntable work during Ground Zero's heyday — yes, things get that intense. The experimental glitch spirit is present but does not prevail: analog and digital and human and machine meet in a flurry of quick gestures and crazy ideas. The material was recorded live in Sydney, Australia, and Vienna, Austria, in February and September 2000 (respectively), and later reassembled in the studio. Ambarchi put his hands in the reconstruction of "R[stacte]" and Joe Linschinger guests on the last three tracks (although what he actually does remains a mystery). The CD is a bit short, but after 36 minutes of this intense (but quite enjoyable to the open-minded ear) music, you'll be grateful. As a bonus, the disc also contains a video for "U R the Sony of My Life" which is two minutes longer than the audio-only track. Not a masterpiece by any standard, the movie is itself a scratch video set to match the performance's every move. Recommended. ~ François Couture, Rovi