Marconi Point
(Iris Light/D.E.I./FAB)
20th Century
Ambient
Drum And Bass
Electronic / Experimental / Industrial
Industrial Rhythm
Techno
Trip Hop, Breaks, Dub, World-Fusion
(Very) Alternative
Contact
The Iris Light label has reunited the original members of Zoviet*France on this benefit compilation for an Edinburgh artist space under threat of closure, the Autonomous Centre. Not that Ben Ponten and Robin Storey are working together, but the new tracks by the industrial-ambient pioneers' separate projects make this collection worth listening to.
As Rapoon, Storey delivers another deep ritualistic piece in "Lest We Forget" featuring a flute in a spacious environment, while Ponten and a new incarnation of Zoviet*France presents ten minutes of rhythmic pulses and shamanic percussion from a live performance in France in 1996. And extending the family tree is Mark Warren, from the latest Zoviet*France, who works with their style of dark drones as Penumbra in "Duet For Horn & Theramin" (a preview of his upcoming CD on Iris Light). This collection also includes an exclusive track from the late Bryn Jones of Muslimgauze, to whom the disc is dedicated. His "Trialmix" is a wonderfully mesmeric dubbed-percussion track that includes frame drums, tabla and processed beats, with the inventive touch of clangs from a dropped piece of iron bar. Tragically, the range and creativity of his final recordings were the best of his career.