SMALLFISH RECORDS
Experimedia gives us the first of two end of year treats and this one comes in the shape of a rather marvellous collaboration from Billy Gomberg and Jason Corder. They appear to have brought out the best in each other I’d say with this heartwarming selection of carefully created pieces of organic electronic music par excellent. Both artists are capable of the musical and the abstract and the balance here between those two styles is superb. Combining pure melodic work that’s backed up with incredibly detailed atmospheres, you can sit back, relax and enjoy this to its fullest extent. Guitars, pianos and electronics work together with found sounds and naturalistic moments to give each piece its own narrative, yet it never feels forced as the flow of the music around those passages is so deft and fluid that it all fits together perfectly. For the most part the gentle sense of serenity is very calming but it’s tempered with those slightly darker moments that both artists are so good at. Shimmering sounds, effervescent textures that are full of interesting sounds (from long drawn out drones to frankly superb percussive sound effects) and a sense of purity. An album to enjoy then on this great label. Definitely recommended.
http://www.smallfish.co.uk/shop/browse/?aid=20373
TEXTURA
Flyover Sound finds Gomberg and offthesky pooling their talents for nine soothing meditations. Here and elsewhere, Gomberg incorporates into his work analog synthesis, digital treatments, acoustic recordings, and custom programming, while Corder uses guitar, piano, sine waves, and field recordings to produce his material. Working together, the two create forty-nine minutes of shimmering drones and dense fields of electronic crystals. In some tracks the guitar occupies a prominent role; in others, it blends into the total sound mass. "Splatter Pattern" presents a sparkling rainforest of glitchy textures, while "Saen" resembles an amplified country pond teeming with the mating clicks of frogs and the chatter of insect life. In fact, much of the material might be characterized in similar manner, with each setting a slightly different albeit still luminous pond of placid electronic ambiance and guitar (acoustic and electric) shadings.
December 2009
http://www.textura.org/reviews/gomberg_flyoversound_comme.htm
NORMAN RECORDS
We got a new CD on the Experimedia label by Offthesky and Billy Gomberg. Flyover Sound is a joint collaborative thing comprising weird (yet beautiful) drones, some acoustic guitars, field recordings and some glitchyness thrown in for good measure. They've created some pretty soundscapes which are complex yet easy on the ear. There's plenty going on in there and I reckon if you spent a good hour listening to this with some headphones chonged off your face your head would explode. I always think making things complex and beautiful is a tricky thing to do but they've managed to create something rather special here. There's some complex electronic sounding things in there which will appeal to fans of Machinefabriek yet there's some gorgeous ambience which for you Infraction heads out there. It's well nice!!
A Norman Records recommendation (22nd October 2009)
http://www.normanrecords.com/records/111500
CYCLIC DEFROST
Flyover Sound is the product of Billy Gomberg and Offthesky (Jason Corder), kicking around pretty, minimalist sketches like a pair of hippie Machinefabrieks. Like the Dutch producer, Gomberg and Corder pay close attention to frequencies, and development, with highs, lows and mids all making measured appearances, only here elements seem to sprout carelessly, like weeds. Acoustic guitar, field recording and loosely tethered sine tones intermingle with glitches and processing to create organic, free-flowing pieces akin to 12kers like Seaworthy and Fonica, and if theres little thats wholly original Flyover Sound is nonetheless an entirely pleasant listen.
The albums finest moments approach the kind of blissful revelry of Manual or Marsen Jules, almost Pop Ambient-worthy, but too carefree. "Wailing Walls" has high-pitched sine tones flicker against the crinkle of closely miked paper, left to slowly distort and collapse. "Eyelids" introduces warmer tones, buttery waves against which chiming guitar notes fold like a folksy Klimek. The title of "Radiator Peace "hints at its origins, the hiss and crackle of household machinery deconstructed by granular synthesis, while "Untitled Diary Overdubs" seems to conceal piano notes, appearing like spectres through thick night fog.
-Joshua Meggitt
http://www.cyclicdefrost.com/blog/2009/11/02/billy-gomberg-and-offthesky-flyover-sound-experimedia/
VITAL WEEKLY
The two names I recognized are Billy Gomberg and Off The Sky, Both were reviewed before in Vital Weekly and consist usually of a fine blend of field recordings and acoustic instruments being manipulated and treated digitally. What they do here is of their usual high standard. Great manipulations of not too outspoken music, held back, introspective, ambient glitch with a touch of improvisation. As such this music is hardly 'new' by the standards of microsound (think for instance 'Heroin' by Mathieu/Ehlers, without the pop references, but in the hands of Gomberg and Jason Corder (the man behind Off The Sky) the result is great.(FdW)
#698
http://www.vitalweekly.net/698.html