Beauty in the Beast
From the roar of Tibetan horns and the clangor of metal percussion that opensBeauty in the Beast, Wendy Carlos in 1986 signaled a new direction for her music.Beauty in the Beastis Carlos's magnum opus, an album that should have established the synthesizer's role in the new global music landscape. More than that, it should have established Carlos as a composer and not just aSwitched-on Bachjukebox. But not too many people were listening. Rereleased now after 14 years,Beauty in the Beasthas lost none of its power. Carlos is both profound and poignant, dissonant and disarming onBeauty, as she fuses a global orchestra from her synthesizers. "Poem for Bali" is the centerpiece of the album, an episodic, 17-minute excursion as Carlos orchestrates the sounds and rhythms of a digital gamelan orchestra. In addition to replicating the metallophones, gongs, and flutes of the traditional gamelan, she creates her own hybrid sound designs, giving this work a surreal and sometimes harrowing tone, like a dream bent through funhouse mirrors. But then there are pieces such as "A Woman's Song," based on a Balkan melody. The title track merges nightmare landscapes and a crazed carnival calliope with a haunting theme that sounds like a lament for the end of the world.Beauty in the Beastis an essential recording of both modern composition and  synthesis--Carlos should plug into this circuit again.--John Diliberto