Mort Aux Vaches: Exosphere

Better short than sorry; clocking in barely above a half-hour, Exosphere may — nay, will — leave you wanting more, but what has been committed to disc stands as some of Robert Hampson's best music since the mid-'90s. Recorded live in the studios of the VPRO radio (Amsterdam) and released in Staalplaat's series Mort aux Vaches, Exosphere consists of three tracks of ambient concrète. The music derives mostly from field recordings made during short or connecting trips between hotels and train stations or airports (i.e., the short trips before/between/after longer ones). It's a rather weak attempt to find some originality in an often used idea, but if the concept is unconvincing, the music sure is. "Part I" remains mostly ambient, walking a fine line between isolationist electronica and drone. The live computer construction is flawless and elegant, gently catching the listener's attention and guiding it through the journey. "Part II" takes a more vehement approach, starting with musique concrète-like buckets of sound matter thrown at the listener from all directions. More sculpture than drone, it lets us feel its ragged edges and smooth surface. Abstract, it displays the sense of purpose often found in the music of academic electroacoustic composers like Francis Dhomont or Jerry Harrison. "Part III" adopts a middle approach and lets the field recordings back in: the echoing hallways of a train station, the suggestion (rather than "presence") of a crowd. Hampson is as usual in complete control of his medium, but while his albums from previous years have a somewhat clinical feel, this one is inhabited by a warmth that makes it very inviting. Like all Mort aux Vaches limited releases, the CD is packaged in a unusual three-panel case — this time it is cut from a carton of grape juice. ~ François Couture, Rovi