The Breakdown
Brighton based sound artist Paul Wilson aka f.Ampism is part of the mycelium network of new age electronica which thrives furtively beneath the everyday music radar. From the world of micro-labels and trans-national partnerships, cassette transmissions and local scenes, he’s released solo work since 2016 amongst other things (read his nifty blog ampism.com for info). Now comes his first release for fellow Brightonian and DJ pal Marc Teare’s ever-expansive Hive Mind imprint, ‘The Vertical Luminous’, an album which matches quirky playfulness with an intention to fascinate.
The listen is engrossing, like microscopic spying on a rumbustious cellular hoedown. Opener Lunar Mansions plunges you straight into Wilson’s sonic otherworld, a glitchy music box of revolving loops, bubbly clarinet, bleep, bloops and treated-vocal snippets. It’s a trickle-down trail of notes and random sounds which resolve in a satisfying pool of harmonic chords. Such liquidity and flow unify the pieces on this f.Ampism collection. Take The sparkles On The water connect me to the sun where a sprinkle of sound rays and sunrise chords take on a zithering urgency as the sketch completes. Even more dramatic Palming in Thunderbolt somehow coaxes its opening fragments to congregate around a bass pulse then blend frantic elements with an incidental melody. Still not satisfied the track begins to congeal before ultimately dissolving.
The pieces on ‘The Vertical Luminous’ seem to take on a life of their own and f.Ampism’s work has been to hone their instability for us to experience. Most tracks are relatively brief but each has a distinct personality: the scratchy Mammalian Brain with its thready pulse which agitates under the synth scribbles; the hint of crusty digeridoo to introduce The Opposite of Doubt; and the spit and spatter of Rug Vision, where the fractured orchestral fills and creaking electronics hint at a Oneothrix reference. There’s even some sedate oboe tones and harmonium melody amongst the synth globules in Shield Epoch and whispers of an electro stomp at the opening of Midi Evil. It’s such singularity which entices you to stick with ‘The Vertical Luminous’ and ensures the album avoids being too perplexing.
Still convention is not what f.Ampism is aiming for in his music. This is not cosy electronica but work which thrives on that sound-art questioning which you hear in the music of Carl Stone or Ben Bondy. Worm Moon maybe complex but the track is a mesmerising mix of looping woodwind, loping basslines, gargling voices and playful gamelan patterns. It’s probably the nearest in spirit to Yayoba music, Wilson’s innovative fourth world collaboration with Johannes Schebler and Jani Hirvonen. Then there’s the spooky The Severed Head Is Smiling which switches from a dreamy celebration to an eerie nocturnal hallucination, some chirpy bird song competing with stuttering arpeggios and mechanistic squeaks. Yes ‘The Vertical Luminous’ often possesses that spiralling psychedelic effect.
Things do calm towards the end of the album with the tuneful, cuddly warmth of Feature This Person Less and the cartoonish chorale of The Flab In Mind. Here as the bubbling soundtrack appears to settle, you feel as if the f.Ampism’s probing is complete and the petri-dish holds no more secrets, at least until the next time you listen in.
Get your copy of ‘The Vertical Luminous‘ by f.ampism from your local record store or direct from Hive Mind HERE
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