The Squid's Ear Magazine


Arcane Device: N28: Ohmniscient (pulsewidth)

The second of NY electronic explorer David Lee Myers', aka Arcane Device, N28 series, an album of excited electronics, field recordings, inexplicable sound and rotating, splintering and otherwise lovingly mangled sound, not so much a noise collection as instead a controlled chaos with moments of cavernous beauty in a journey of mercurial rummaging.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



David Lee Myers-composer, performer


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Label: pulsewidth
Catalog ID: PW022
Squidco Product Code: 32991

Format: CDR
Condition: New
Released: 2022
Country: USA
Packaging: Jewel Case

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"In late November 2021, David Lee Myers released 'N28' under the guise of Arcane Device (unlike his other recent music that is usually under his Christian name). That was a two-hour release that he described as 'noise wall sessions'. A year later, he returns with N28: Ohmniscient. This time, the music gets the following description; "Time delay montages for soft landing into a warm oblivion". Don't let that noise wall thing lead you in any way. While Arcane Device started in the 1980s with 'feedback music', which later on was called 'no input mixer' by others (and, truthfully, Arcane Device used a much more complex set-up), and that generated, to some extent, noise music, but in none of his work, then and now, harsh noise (wall) played any role. In much of his recent work, Myers uses his feedback system in combination with modular electronics. As such, I think the fine line between Arcane Device and David Lee Myers has disappeared. Whenever I hear his music, I think of 'modern electronics'; music from systems connected with lots of cables and plugs and creating all sorts of connections. Even less than on 'N28', the music on N28: Ohmniscient is not so noisy (let alone 'noise wall'), as it is slightly chaotic. The machines are infested with insects, resulting in some lively music. All of this tied together, with nothing leaping out of it. A rhythm is used only in the fourth track, 'Flipflop Springhead'. I seemed to recognise field recordings in other tracks, mostly from human speech, but I might be wrong. Like his other work, this music has a dystopian darkness, but it is not easy to pin that down to a specific sound or approach. I guess it's more of an overall feeling when I hear this. Not precisely dark and atmospheric, but dark and unsettling. Music that creepy crawls upon the listener and delivers a state of unrest. Is that what I want? Sometimes I don't mind that at all."-Frans da Waard, Vital Weekly


Get additional information at Vital Weekly

Artist Biographies

"David Lee Myers is a sound and visual artist who has lived and worked in New York City since 1977. Pulsewidth serves as the platform for his activities in the arts, particularly sound projects, a number of which have been released under the Pulsewidth record label.

From 1987 through 1993, sound projects were developed under the name Arcane Device. With the development of new devices in 2014, it seems fitting for the moniker to be revived.

Myers work stems from an enthusiasm for electronics and the world of electrons as it relates to the realm of vibration and sound. After a fine arts education and many years in music, in 1987 Myers' accidental discovery of "Feedback Music" led to a new appreciation of the unseen forces underlying audible electronics."

-Pulsewidth (http://www.pulsewidth.com/)
3/27/2024

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Chronoextensions 8:05

2. Closed Course 7:53

3. Noncentral Station 7:50

4. Flipflop Springhead 6:30

5. Mesmer's Quandary 8:40

6. The Currency Of Tears 7:02

7. A Rustic Splendor 10:18

Related Categories of Interest:


Electro-Acoustic
Organized Sound and Sample Based Music
Electronic Forms
Sound, Noise, &c.
NY Downtown & Metropolitan Jazz/Improv
Solo Artist Recordings
New in Experimental & Electronic Music

Search for other titles on the label:
pulsewidth.


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