Sound Characters (Making The Third Ear)
Maryanne Amacher's certain that several of these electronic compositions will trigger sound from within the listener's ears. Sounds unlikely at first, but her works indeed get under the skin before uncoiling inside the body. The more bright, popping moments jump around, surrounding the listener with a roomful of sound in radical disproportion to the source's range--and initially with consternating repetitions and extremity of tones. Compressed at times into stereotypically blippy emanations,Sound Characterspresents an explicit overwhelming challenge, as if Amacher's daring the listener to hear her work, whether it's piercing with needles of high-pitched tone or dark pitch-free crushes. No sooner is Amacher finished issuing the challenge when she delves into a mix of subterranean rumbles and the rough thunders of a purple sky in late summer. She's got formidable talents in sound installations, which occur here in every guise, always issuing a sort of aural blanket, albeit one that breathes, over the listening space.--Andrew Bartlett