It must have been about three to four years ago when Disaster Amnesiac copped this tape from sound artist Lindsey Walker at a New Year's Eve party in Berkeley. Recent tape organizing/purging lead me back to it. As I've been digging its Minimalist vibes, you can rest assured that my copy wont be ending up at Goodwill.
The A side, Mathematics "UK Lite", features Lindsay in pure vocal mode. What sounds to this listener like a minor scale is sung repeatedly for several minutes. This piece's drama comes from the way in which this scale is processed and cut up. Mathematics "UK Lite" has this great, cavernous delay setting throughout its duration, which gives it a quite unsettling, claustrophobic vibe. Disaster Amnesiac imagines a singer in a room somewhere, perhaps purging, perhaps celebrating. Either way, this imagined presence is most definitely solitary; the intimacy of the piece can really get into your brain. Also of note are cuts that are applied at various spots, which have made my perceptions jump and wiggle. Right as Disaster Amnesiac gets comfortable with the repeated "la la la la la la...." actions, all wrapped up in their echoes, Walker applies a swift, sudden cut that lasts for a few seconds before the singing starts up again. Mathematics "UK Lite" is a great piece of Minimalist vocal artistry.
On the flip side of this demo, we have an extended keyboard meditation, Could've Turned (I.I.#1), which, much like Mathematics, centers around a simple repeated riff. Walker uses this riff as a vehicle for movements into to improvised spaces. She coaxes big, billowy tones from her keyboard, sometimes playing simple one note phrases, other times slamming out clusters of notes. It sometimes sounds to Disaster Amnesiac as if she's using her entire forearm to get them, and I love those sounds. Along with these types of tones, Walker gets cool, almost robotic, swirly synth stuff happening, never losing the heavy, billowy timbres while doing so. The cuts in action are similarly utilized, but they feel more organic within the piece, less seemingly a function of taping and more so interior to the composition. Who knows, though? Could've Turned (I.I. #1) has a similar loner Minimal feel throughout its duration as Mathematics, linking them pleasingly as two of a piece.
Disaster Amnesiac has not seen Lindsay Walker since the party at which I got this demo tape from her. It's my hope that she continues to produce such cool, individualistic pieces of music. As mentioned, don't bother looking for my copy in a thrift store, as it'll surely remain here with me.
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