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