Sonic Youth Gossip - asp's classic albums # 54: phil niblock

PHIL NIBLOCK "Touch Three"
2006

This is a really new record but it's deeply effected me and I have to share my joy on here. Your enjoyment of this record, I guess, depends on how much you enjoy drone music. But, to me, this is the most moving drone pieces I've ever heard; way more emotional, complex, and engaging than any other drone record... and I love drone. So, I give this my highest reccomendation.

Boomkat's description; this is classified as "modenr classical" on their site..
Originally, this epic release came out as a triple disc set, featuring veteran experimental composer Phil Niblock's collaborations with a host of instrumentalists. Predominantly, these pieces have been constructed from single mic recordings of single instruments, later to be transformed by Niblock using a variety of digital techniques. The resultant pieces must rank as some of the finest pure drone pieces to have been assembled in recent years. Niblock is truly a master of his craft, and the assuredness and economy with which he fashions his patient, remarkable music is nothing short of majestic. Niblock seems to be able to reduce any given instrumental source recording to its barest most primordial form, with suspended sax tones sounding every bit as steady and even as a bank of computer generated sines. Far from being an exercise in the dehumanisation of instruments however, Touch Three instead succeeds in focusing on the minutiae and microtones that make up these timbres. A huge undertaking this one, not just for the composer but for the listener too - rest assured that it's well worth the effort. Excellent.