'REPEAT' REVIEW Boomkat - 2009 *Special edition of 100 white vinyl copies in individually numbered sleeves each with a unique insert - do not miss!* This amazing album seems to form itself out of the barest ingredients, creating entrancing tonal pieces that sometimes barely seem to shift and yet imperceptibly draw you into a world of stasis, calm and slow movements. Inspired by Morton Feldman's "cycles and patterns, and the ocean", 'Repeat' is the latest work from Australian sound artist Matt Rösner, whose prior works have cropped up on such labels as Room40 and Apestaartje. 'Repeat' is probably a more extreme compositional exercise than those previous albums, focused squarely on a minimalist analysis of the relationships between comparatively simple sonic properties of waves and tones. The title track on the five-part first side is concentrated on the phasing and overtones created by these seemingly static, motionless drones, and it all sounds monolithically like an organ chord suspended over a difficult-to-quantify time period. 'Arrival' is minimal in a slightly different way, characterised by very Feldman-esque piano exchanges with sparse, almost disconnected keyings peering out from the silence. After further sustain experiments on 'Departure', the side rounds off with 'Intersection', a track made up of low frequency drops derived from guitar that has a kind of economical, matter-of-fact poetry about it. The B-side proves especially rewarding though: it's entirely reserved for 'Lattices', an apparently simple composition studying the meditative ebb and flow of simple sound waves. It brings to mind the recent outpouring of spartan sound design exercises we've heard from Greg Davis and Eleh as well as the more usual touchstones of 20th century minimalist electronic music like Eliane Radigue. A deeply absorbing record from this masterful, confident producer - very highly recommeded.
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