Ryoji Ikeda - Matrix
(Touch)
Lost in a noetic neverland of anechoic rooms, acute sensorial deprivation,
and reductio ad absurdum remixology, Ryoji Ikeda's work has surrendered only
a smattering of thrills since his landmark +/- (1996). Matrix is right
to revisit the dual design of 1998's Time / Space 2x3"-CD set (perhaps
Ikeda's most satisfying concept-over-content conceit in recent years),
raising hopes for a return to top form. And, for the most part, Matrix
delivers on such promises. With microsonic pursuits now commonplace on
volume levels ranging from subliminal (*0, Bernhard Günter) to visceral (Pan
Sonic, Pomassl), Ikeda's waveplay wisely doesn't attempt to deliver the
equillibrium-upsetting impact of +/-. Instead, Ikeda tries his hand at
invisible sonarchitecture. The wavering sinewaves and fibrillating
frequencies of "Matrix [For Rooms]" travel the full circuit of your speaker
setup, imposing a structure of unseen walls and enclosures upon one's
listening space. Despite a statement that "the listener's movement
transforms the phenomenon into his/her intrapersonal music," the disc's
digitally embedded blueprints offer little opportunity for interaction.
Movement within the speakers' perimeter does not alter Ikeda's designs. One
might as well sit still, allowing each of the 10 tracks to dart and circle,
stitching its prescribed microsonic seams. "Matrix [For Rooms]" rewards such
concentration with the awareness of subsonic spiders deliberately and
delicately drawing unseen parameters around one's physical form. If not
quite the ear-altering experience of +/-, it's no less intriguing a
sensation. That said, however, a full hour of such (in)activity is more
ideally suited to an installation environment, not one's livingspace.
The second disc (".Matrix") only disappoints in replaying too many of
Ikeda's familiar headphonic gambits. But his speaker-panning pulses and
felt-but-not-heard sonar tonalities still elicit a smile, as does the
ingenious layering of complex audio effects. Alas, in the post-+/- years,
disciples like Noto and Richard Chartier have explored every mappable micron
in microsonic space. Even with Ikeda's gleefully groovy technocentric
rhythmic sensibilities in full effect, ".Matrix" finds no new territory.
It's a welcome bonus, far more engaging than its conceptual companion disc,
but it's little more than 30 minutes of innocuous fun-with-digital audio.
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