Dan Abrams appeared fully-formed into the ambient "micro-sound" arena with two fantastic full-length albums on 12K records, Optimal lp (now quite difficult to find) and Frame. Both works are finely detailed studies in dissonant machine sound, ambient textures, and subtle, languid rhythms. Abrams was last seen with the excellent Stream album under his own name on Germany's influential Mille Plateaux record label.

Abrams returns to the Shuttle 358 moniker for his latest foray into subdued, micro-electronic music, Understanding Wildlife. I'm the type of listener who has always found the clicks & cuts style of music to be more interesting to read about than actually listen to. Works on the 12K sublabel Line, as well as certain material on the Mille Plateaux label have often been difficult listens, featuring little more than extremely low sine wave sounds, or stereo-panned DSP. I'm a little too rooted in pleasant sound to truly buy into this highly experimental (and frankly, somewhat gimmicky) brand of music.

In Shuttle 358 (like sound-relatives Oval), I have found a happy medium between laptop experimentation and the pretty ambient textures I enjoy so much. Understanding Wildlife has all the positive attributes of past Abrams releases, while adding distinctly new flavors to the old formula. The first track is a delightful example of this, adding a lovely sample of harp playing, which gradually gives way to very seventies sounding vocalizations and a vibraphone. This sound sample is familiar to me, having appeared similarly on a track of Susumu Yokota's gorgeous album Sakura (which I highly recommend). This sample begins to degrade, giving way to stately beats--taking you out of the Victorian-era parlor and into some bizarre future time when the old anachronisms and new technologies operate in sonorous harmony.

The album drifts along into more exemplary tracks of the Shuttle 358 sound, glitchy slow beats, vague machine sounds, highly manipulated samples, ambient tones. Indeed this is the sound of an ancient, outmoded machine singing softly to itself. There is a melancholy to the album, which is oh so sweet, giving the pleasures of Wildlife an autumnal flavor. Later tracks somehow obtain a deep-space signal, amidst all the earthly pleasures.

Eventually we are brought to the brief track "Burma" which utilizes field samples very much reminding me of Tetsu Inoue's fine World Receiver album. These samples meld with the harp tones of the first track to leave a subtle perfume of sound behind. The final track titled "I Like Being Here" leaves us in a windy field surrounded by metronomed windchimes (always a sonic delight for me). This could be my favorite track on the whole CD, and yes, I certainly like being here.

If machine parts could somehow degrade into plantlife, we would have an accurate parallel in nature to the music of Shuttle 358. Fans owe it to themselves to pick this release up. Abrams updates his sound, while still retaining all the attributes that made his music so intoxicating when first heard. New listeners will appreciate that this release is not limited, but widely available in most decent online record shops. I raise my glass to Abrams, who has once again proven that inspired experimental music need not be difficult to listen to.

On Mille Plateaux records.

since July 15, 2003