ECONOMY OF MOTION (CD)
Posted: October 31st, 2004, by Simon MinterEconomy Of Motion is a two-man outfit, made up of Chris Summerlin (he of diskant.net/Wolves! (Of Greece)/Reynolds/Damo Suzuki’s backing band/etc/etc) and Gareth Hardwick, and their electric guitars. Nothing more than that; no drums, no bass, no keyboards – it’s just electric guitars and the sounds made by them, looped, reverbed and effected-up.
It’s wonderful stuff – very relaxed, and relaxing, sound, with layers stretching and building over the course of five tracks and 35 minutes. The guitars are barely recognisable as guitars, except for a few picked notes here and there. The sounds created are so heavily treated that they’ve become pure tones, allowing the tracks to exist like floating masses, with moments of tension and feeling drifting gradually and slowly in and out. At times the sounds reminded me of Sonic Youth when they’re deep in a ‘noise break’ circa Evol, but really this CD reminds me much more of so-called ‘ambient’ or ‘minimal’ musicians such as Phill Niblock, Eno or Phillip Jeck.
Simon Minter
Simon joined diskant after falling on his head from a great height. A diskant legend in his own lifetime Simon has risen up the ranks through a mixture of foolhardiness and wit. When not breaking musical barriers with top pop combo Sunnyvale Noise Sub-element or releasing records in preposterously exciting packaging he relaxes by looking like Steve Albini.
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