I’m old. You all know that by now. My musical taste is ‘weird’, but that’s the reason I’m writing for Vital Weekly. In the 80s, I started listening to different music, and through stuff like Birthday Party and Joy Division, I started enjoying some EBM-related music until 1992, when I heard Coil for the first time. It went through the roof from that moment on, and I listened to everything extreme. I had a bi-monthly round of Amsterdam stores I’d check out (amongst which were Boudisque and Staalplaat), and each time, I came back with weird findings. I listened, I explored, and I developed a few favourite artists. Amongst those artists were, of course, Coil, Brian Lustmord and Adi Newton.
So when in 1996 I heard of an album created by Adi Newton and – at that moment, the for me still unknown Andrew McKenzie / Hafler Trio – recorded and assisted by Lustmord, I bought it right away. And that my droogs were The Psychophysicist CD, as released on Side Effects / Anterior Research. Some 25 years later, it is still an absolute favourite in my extensive collection, and it made me dive deeper into “everything Adi”. More Clock Dva and definitely more Anti Group because everything I heard from him those days was pure gold. He still is, by the way, because somehow, the sounds he uses are timeless. His works emphasise sound creation, so you won’t recognize a certain sound that is typical for this or that machine; Adi takes the next step. And he still does. Timeless Sonic Art.
In the last few years, there were a few mentions of new works, and a few samplers featured tracks under the Psychophysicist moniker, with Adi Newton as a recurrent name in the personnel list. After 26 years, there is a new release under the name, without McKenzie but with Mauricio Reyes as co-creator. My heart skipped a beat, or maybe even nine beets, and I couldn’t wait to dive into this massive work. You can imagine how high my hopes and expectations were. ‘The Sone of Total Proximity’ was released in two versions, and while there is an overlap in tracks, there are differences too. Both are based on a USB memory stick with music packed in an elaborate box with an additional non-USB track on CD-r. “The Frank Baxter Box” is the most elaborate one, with 5 hours and 40 minutes of music; the “Proxima 10” D-LP” version is a little bit shorter and “only” plays for 4 hours and 10 minutes. And both versions come with that 30-minute CDR entitled ‘Relativist Mechanics’.
Let’s dive into the music a bit. The releases are released under the Psychophysicist moniker, though when playing the tracks – and which is affirmed through the listings at discogs.com – the ID3 tags show the tracks are by Adi Newton and Mauricio Reyes, as mentioned before, with a few added names like Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto fame and Fabio Kubic (Coagulant). With my mind running on 6 or 7 coffees, I wonder what the psychophysicist actually is. As on that first album, it seems more of a collective effort than a project. But when listening to all the tracks, there is such a beautiful coherency amongst the tracks that the form or name kinda doesn’t matter at all. Some of the liner notes we’ve received explain it a bit, I suppose. “This production showcases a collection of meticulously crafted tracks created between 1997-98 and 2020-23.” This again underlines a remark I made earlier that the sound I love so much is because it’s timeless. You can simply not hear whether a track is from the late 90’s or early 20’s. Believe me, that’s a difficult thing to do.
With the timespan of creation comes another question into my mind: coherence. So much music has been made by Adi in the meantime. I remember the beautiful live sets in the cube … So, for me, the question was raised if it would all be Psychophysicist. If I’m sincere, there are a few tracks that – if wanted – would perfectly fit a release by T.A.G.C. in the Meontological Research style. Those were from the late 80’s, and since then, the T.A.G.C. style changed a bit, so maybe those Research Recordings were the first actually to play with the subject of what became the Psychophysicist. And to get my own thoughts into perspective again: Does it matter? Or is my mind being activated by the sounds I’ve now listened to for an impressive 10 hours already?! Several of the tracks are fully in sync with the atmosphere on the original CD from ’96, so if you loved that album as I did, this release is a must. And if you are intrigued by T.A.G.C., you should also get it as soon as possible because these beauties go very fast, and they’re already sold out at a few places. Each of the two boxes is a work of art in itself as created by Mauricio under the art-direction of Adi. The “Proxima” one containing 3 Chromatin prints, cotton swabs to calibrate your ears, an eye mask for some deep listening and more; The “Frank Baxter” box even more Chromatin prints, more different tools to let all those extreme frequencies hit the exact right spot and even a shirt.
After listening to the USB, you still have that CDR – signed by Mauricio and Adi – in your package, and the music on it is worth a special mention. In 2003, a project at Telekinett involved Stefan Joel Weisser, aka Z’EV. The initial research material of ‘Universal Mechanics’ was combined with material by Adi and Mauricio, resulting in “Relativist Mechanics”. And this track is the proverbial cherry on top.
What more can I write? I’ve waited for 26 years, and I got two releases with a total of 7 hours (excluding the doubles) of new music to listen to by one of my all-time heroes and a new one.
Link1: https://www.soleilmoon.com/shop/psychophysicist-the-sone-of-total-proximity/
Link2: https://www.9beet2.com/store/
Link3: https://www.telekinett.com/rom_c-syn/
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