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Ex Vivo | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Mimeograph Recordings experimental composer and sound artist Meri von KleinSmid has released work on Stasisfield, Mimeograph Recordings and has also worked with SoniCabal. Her latest release, Ex Vivo, presents a collection of pieces made from very different techniques, with cut-up vocal sounds, fierce wailing and hissing soundscapes. The sources of the sounds on Ex Vivo are varied and eccentric, for example, "Ethereal Tether" is made from recordings of birds, a Taiwanese tin can filled with water, traffic noise and KleinSmid's voice; "What Happens to the Deep-Sea Divers" was composed using a BBC News broadcast. Each track consists of a consistent theme, explored to its limits and occasionally left for new areas of exploration. To me, the digital mutations of "Sphere of Interest", "Idle Chatter", "Ethereal Tether" and "Grønligrotta" sound like an old fashioned vision of the future: sounds appear like bleak concrete cityscapes, then become overwhelmed by pulses that explore the stereo field like bytes of data finding their way around networks. Upon reading the composer's notes in the sleeve, I discovered a very different story. She describes "Idle Chatter" as "Two tones chat to each other. Neither voice will wait for the other to finish gossiping..." This reinforces KleinSmid's tendency for the whimsical and ironic. Conversely, "Des Vetters Eckfenster" and "The Rats in the Walls" feel more organic, where KleinSmid allows the ebb and flow of tides of sound to envelop the listener. In these pieces, KleinSmid occasionally surprises us, dropping us into a new part her world with only a lingering memory of what came before. This is especially evident in "Des Vetters Eckfenster" (sharing the name with Hoffmann's short story), where suddenly the viewpoint is shifted and we zoom into the subatomic structure of the track. Next to this, "Five-Word Farrago" is quite a contrast. Five words are repeated, building up a dizzying tapestry of familiar and yet unusual sounds. Micro-fragments of these sounds occasionally build melodies, then rhythms are developed as these patterns morph into new forms. The final piece, "What Happens to the Deep-Sea Divers" is a disorientating affair, with voices threatening to push through the surface of warped drones, and then falling back underneath the surface again. As it fades out, I was left wondering if the deep-sea divers had drowned from the bends. Ex Vivo largely sounds artificial, as you might expect from the title. It's an emotionally confusing ride, feeling like a strange collection of Meri von KleinSmid's personal reflections. "Des Vetters Eckfenster" left me wanting more, despite being perhaps the most disturbing piece of all. Review by Alex Young
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