Field Rotation Why Things are Different

Christoph Berg’s most recent release “Why Things Are Different” is a blend of acoustic instruments, field recordings and electronic processing techniques used to construct a small but thoughtful soundtrack to winter; slow, deep drones painted with subtle hiss and texture work…

“When The Clouds Clear” is a simple, ephemeral piece based around a drone that lifts after about two minutes. Some disconcerting micro noise then settles into the far corners after panning around for a few minutes; it then mixes in shuddering metallic tones and peaks upward – all the tracks crescendo before it fades out at about the six-minute mark. Good opener.

“Never Build A Bridge Into Nothingness” is (aside from being a great song title) more demanding – a windy and grey storm that blows through the entire spectrum before the rain hits hard at about the two-minute mark. The tone is oppressive, yet there’s a lot of warmth in the bottom end and this track would come up well for those lucky enough to have good stereos or headphones.

“Sleepless” is a marked change in mood, and the highlight of the outing. Some repeating high tone drones mixed with some guttural and insistent bass texture, with some occasional hiss flares in the peripheries. Halfway in, the introductory tones fade out and you’re left with some interesting and affecting central hovering. Clever stuff. Here the relevance of the title begins to be clear, a hypnotic half state punctuated by the odd burst of hiss across the speakers. Then, returning to the introductory piece to close.

“Why Things Are Different” is a concise affair at a shade over the twenty-minute mark, and deals well with the challenge of having to fit a cohesive release on the limited amount of time 3” CD’s give you.

It’s something of a chameleon too – it sounds dramatically different in separate environments. On headphones, the very subtle texture work is noticeably obvious whereas on speakers, whilst still present, it drops very much into the background giving a vastly different effect. I’ll concede that’s true of any music but it was certainly something I noticed here, and it’s an interesting effect, giving each listen given to it a sense of occasion and place.

It marks a more minimalist approach than the “Licht und Schatten” release on Fluid Audio, which had I impression of being more sample oriented, beat based and tonally adventurous. Stylistically, it’s more akin to the great remix release of the same project but with a stronger emphasis on the electronic tones.

This release is limited to 100 copies for the world, but it is also mentioned that it will be made available digitally for download at some later point in future.

Apparently this release (HB18) marks the end of the 3” CDR series on Hibernate, limited releases being moved to its little brother subscription netlabel Rural Colours. It’s a fitting full stop – the project is an assured and thoughtful effort, and there is plenty of depth for those that would like to revisit it often.

Review by Alex Gibson for Fluid Radio

Track List:

When The Clouds Clear
Never Build A Bridge Into Nothingness
Sleepless

Available soon via the Hibernate Recordings store here
Also soon via the Experimedia store here

www.myspace.com/fieldrotation
www.hibernate-recs.co.uk