Antoine Beuger founded the Wandelweiser group in 1992, a collection of like-minded composers who investigate the integration of "silence" into their compositions. I've read explanations of their aesthetic, which posit a "framing of silence" rather than the more common, continuous playing of sounds. If that be the case, the frame before us here is much larger than the silence it surrounds.

Ben Owen (synthesized tones, field recordings) and Barry Chabala (guitar) offer up a recording of Beuger's composition which sounds for all the world like a pleasant afternoon spent in some big city loft space while several people go about their (mostly quiet) activities. Soft tones in concert with field recordings of traffic, bits of conversation and occasional bumps and thumps provide an almost constant bed of activity. Peppered with wooden taps and very occasional loud clangs from the guitar, these elements may seem at odds with each other, though only if one is searching for the underlying scheme. The detail is what's fascinating here; the odd hisses, quiet chair creaks and just indecipherable voices continually focus one's ears, and mind. Listening on headphones will reveal many tiny details, while playback through speakers might tend to blend in with whatever is happening in your space; it's a nice blurring of realities.

An internet search for the score of this work turned up nothing, so I have no idea what it entails, or even if this recording is of the full score (the enclosed notes state "pages 1-23). It would be interesting to find out, though it's absence is by no means a detriment, merely a small mystery.