ROSS MANNING “te t on on ti computer” (More Mars)


Brisbane’s Ross Manning is pretty inventive when it comes to making music. In fact, he makes “his own percussion instruments,” which are composed of “steel, aluminium and scrap metals.” On side A, the so-called “Blue Side” of the tape, he strings together recorded experiments he’s made with these and other electronic devices and objects. The result is industrial but alive, buzzing with energy both potential and kinetic.

Side B, or “Gong Side” (which I guess is the opposite of blue), is more melodic, the electronic arrangements taking on the timbre of gamelan music and serving as a nice counterpoint to the electroacoustic vibrations on the flip. These emerge as if aided by wind, and their rhythmic qualities and tones recall the patterns of Indonesia, etc.




--Ryan