Philip Jeck - Sand

Philip Jeck
Sand
(2008, Touch)
Verdict = More swirling turntable atmospherics

For those familiar Philip Jeck, Sand shouldn’t come as any surprise. In addition to not being surprised, those familiar with Philip Jeck can also rest assured that Sand is incredible. For those unfamiliar, Jeck is an experimental turntablist, and no, I do not know exactly how he creates the bizarrely vibrant oddly enchanting soundscapes found on Sand and in previous releases. Last we heard from Jeck was his contribution to the utterly divine recording of The Sinking of the Titanic with Gavin Bryars and Alter Ego. On a release containing one track spanning past one hour, Jeck somehow made the sound of a crackling turntable sound euphoric preceding the oncoming swells of whale like beauty. On Sand Jeck has turned that same crackle and pop into something both beautiful and abrasive. The melodies here are rooted much deeper and are far more likely to turn dissonant than Alter Ego’s were. Yet, there are still ties to the general feeling of Sand and that of Bryars’ immutable classic. Sand is a seemingly dark affair, not in that it is inhabited by negative feelings or creatures of the underworld, but that its sounds feel like those that you might hear in an ominous, empty jungle at midnight. I guess in that way there is something terrifying interwoven within Sand, however in the course of the album there is something calming about the album - like the slow acceptance that you’re are going mad. I beautiful album for drifting away into nothingness, Jeck’s most recent release shows that he is the master of taming the off kilter ambient circus.

-Mr. Thistle

Philip Jeck - clip from "Residue"