Sample / Shuffle / Interplay

With a name that sounds like one of his own speech edits, Australian Rik Rue is a pioneer in tape manipulation, the use of the mixing board as an instrument, and location recordings of exotic phenomena, among many other things. It would be hard to add up all the hours some lovers of weird music have spent being entertained by various Rue projects over the years, so it is particularly gratifying to find such a well-produced, generous collection of short and to-the-point pieces as this CD. This is a guy who likes to make lots of noise, or sit back and revel in how noisy our own living environment is. Rue can pile it on or he can give it to you slow and steady. The only thing missing is the satisfaction or giddy sense of delirium that comes with absorbing one of his longer, slower-developing compositions. The longest piece here is just over five minutes and even that goes by like a heartbeat.