Jason Kahn wasn't always known for minimalist electro-acoustic music and glossy drones. The American-born European resident was once a drummer for various jazz & rock projects, including The Universal Congress, before moving to Berlin in 1990. He resurfaced in 1994 on The Wetware Trombone, with Günther Heinz on Günter Müller's For4Ears imprint. Since then, he's amassed an impressive discography of collaborative releases, but only five solo discs (three own his own Cut label). Miramar is Kahn's most recent solo outing, recorded in France, a complex and layered series of glossy drones. Kahn's recording process was intricate; he rigged up eight microphones in the large studio, and through these (and some contact mics in a floor tom acting as a second acoustic environment) recorded the sounds of analog sine waves and their effects on a series of cymbals. Sound was received by the mics, run back through the synthesizer, and re-captured by the microphones in the room. It's hard to appreciate just how intricate a recording device this must have been, though the resulting Miramar is an expectedly dynamic recording.
Miramar's smooth tones aren't what give the music its personality, as the output of Kahn's synth consisted of simple sine waves. A mentally or physically passive listener may not find much to notice within the music, but as the sounds coming from the speakers are approached more closely, a new world of noises is brought to life. Movement within the physical listening space provides even further sonic variance. Kahn explains that in the creation of Miramar, he used the immense room in which he recorded as a third instrument, but he neglects to add that the room in which the disc is heard can become a fourth. SImple movement brings out different overtones in the sounds, uncovering hidden slivers of synth and glistening, translucent films of feedback. threatening, as it slowly fills the room in a way that creates a sort of pseudo-claustrophobia. There are moments at which the music can become slightly There's no imperative that demands the listener to be active in their experience of Miramar, but those who are will experience the music in a far more rewarding way. This is some seriously subtle music, but as the cliché says, still waters run deep, and Jason's Kahn's Miramar is some deep stuff, indeed.
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