I’m always happy when packages of Robin hit our doormat. Or that is HQ’s doormat, after which they’re sent to me. Robin and I share a love for modular synthesis, and over the last few years, we bumped into each other on many occasions; there is always time for a little chat, sometimes resulting in big chats, but that’s what you get when you put talkative people with a common interest in a small room. As some of you might know, Professor Scanner has a fan club. You can join and get access to a gazillion unreleased recordings of new albums, scores for contemporary dance performances, recorded Scanner performances and collaborations with other artists. The latter (with Michael Wells / Signs of Chaos) was the first time I heard his music.
From what I understood of the press release and his fan club leaflet Alltagsmusik – meaning music for every day – is a new label of Robin to give his enormous back catalogue a place. Describing the stuff still ‘on the shelves’ is the wisest decision he could have made. As mentioned before, there will be four categories on this label (releases, collaboration, dance and live), and “Alchemia” is the first of many more to come. Not all at once though. Please Robin, don’t.
The thought behind ‘Alchemia’ is to serve as a tribute to the sound of the 60s and 70s library music. Through use of hard- and software and the application of crude techniques of (electronic) composition. That’s more or less the words on the press release, enabling us to place what we hear better. Is it Scanner? Yep, it’s fully Scanner. From the few times I’ve seen him perform live, I somehow recognize his way of thinking in these tracks. But is it Scanner? No, the sounds you might expect from him in his latest works is immaculate and clear, and these recordings are really different. I look at that one word from the press release: Crude.
But ‘crude’ isn’t a bad thing! Hell no! Through limitations you have to focus on possibilities. And it’s exactly THAT which proves to me that Robin is a great artist. The conceptual thinking for this one restricted him from using his favourite GoTos or tools. It’s all about the exploration of sounds, the way Delia, Daphne, Louis and Bebe and all those other great minds of the past did. Sure, I doubt Robin soldered and designed his own electronic circuitry to record these sounds, but this CD is more of a composition than the loose sounds on the Forbidden Planet soundtrack.
The CD has 15 explorations, totalling 37 minutes. It’s a well-thought-out concept by an artist who knows exactly what he’s doing. No matter which gear or software he uses. My favourite tracks are “Ochrea” and “Perspektivea”, and for a visual treat, Go to YouTube and search for “Chimaera” and “Scanner”.
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