Torn's essential loop recordings

[Andre LaFosse <altruist@earthlink.net>]

Yo Dave,

Dave Trenkel wrote:

> I find it interesting that no one's mentioned DT's Splattercell::OAH
> disc yet, to me, that's the pinnacle of his work (so far).

I think the main reason might be that it's a lot harder to draw a
connection between "live looping" with what you hear on Splattercell.  I
know that a very large chunk of what's on there was originally a guitar
or other organic instrument...  but for me personally, that record goes
so far into the hard disk/software mangling realm that the dominant
character of the album, to my ears, is more defined by the computer
angle than the live performance/live looping angle.

On the other hand, you can listen to "Tripping Over God" from a
real-time looping standpoint and find plenty of classic examples of the
sorts of textures David comes up with as a one-man guitarist and loopist
apart from the computer, and you can hear pretty clearly that they're
the products of real-time construction (albiet with some software
editing going on), which I think are big reasons why it's so popular
here.  

So part of the issue for me with OAH is the sound of the album - the
basic timbres on that disc *sound* less guitar-driven to my ears than
the CMP records.  And part of it, too, is the way the music is
constructed and arranged...  Splattercell sounds more "on the grid" in
the post-hip hop/dance music school of arrangement, to me, whereas I
find that the '90s CMP records are a bit more nebulous and less easy to
visualize structurally.  

You can sort of see how a lot of the Splattercell tunes probably looked
on the sequencer arrange window when you hear that album - big chunks of
stuff come in or leave right on the downbeats of sections, which is very
idiomatic of a lot of step-time music.  On the other hand, the mid-90s
stuff, while certainly not without its abrupt angles, is a bit more
nebulous, evolving, and less seemingly defined by the "sequencer sound"
in terms of structure.  Which is another thing that I would say is more
characteristic of real-time looping than step-time production.

Of course, David would probably have something else to say about all
this...  ;)

I like the Splattercell album a lot, but it's not one of my favorite
Torn records, I'll admit.  But I know plenty of people rate it very
highly indeed...  Different strokes and all.

--Andre LaFosse
http://www.altruistmusic.com