Wavespan - Wavespan LP [mtk161]

Definitely one of the classiest Monotonik releases in a while, we're happy to slip sideways from our normal Scandinavian/European-influenced idm sound into a more ambient, sonorous, consciousness-expanded universe, thanks to Santa Cruz, California duo Wavespan, aka Phil Garrison and Alex Lumb, and their great self-titled debut LP.

Garrison started producing electronic music in 1998, and he founded Complex Logic Recordings, a small record label, in 2001. His production credits include Organic Resonance Project's Lucid EP and several remixes as ind01e; in 2005, he designed patches for H.G. Fortune's (VSTi) STS-21 Transition Synthesizer. Alex Lumb has been drumming for over 20 years, in addition to producing electronic music under various names. Most interestingly as a touchpoint, perhaps, this LP has been mastered by noted ambient musician Robert Rich, helping add to the carefully positioned ethereal drift.

Over the entire 49-minute LP, there are a plethora of high points, but many may be initially fascinated by a rare Monotonik-released dub track up front, in the form of the sparse 'Concentration Dub', before the epic 11-minute long 'On The Nature Of Consciousness' takes us away with almost Orb-like spoken word samples and some beautifully placed ambience. Other highlights include the mild paranoia of the JFK assassination-sampling 'Single Bullet Theory', the straight-ahead groove of 'Origin Of Species', and the marvellously placed groove of 'Momentary Bliss'.

Overall, this is a startlingly professional album which, honestly, almost feels too good for Monotonik, but we're delighted to release it nonetheless. If you like it, you can visit Wavespan's page on the Complex Logic site and order a copy of the CD, or simply donate funds of your choice via PayPal to compensate for the more than pleasant listening experience. Hurrah.

This item is part of the collection: Monotonik

Creative Commons license: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs

Notes

"quite simply one of the best ambient releases on any netlabel to date."
-Alex Young, Milieu

"You step into it where you may and find something different each time. Fabulous stuff."
-Mark Teppo, Igloo Magazine

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Reviewer: manycrows - - February 1, 2007
Subject: across, through and beyond

"For man’s everyday needs, it would have been quite enough to have the ordinary human consciousness"* but that obviously wasn't the case for Wavespan when producing this standout LP. This genre-bending album is a journey across, through and beyond those familiar places in your head you thought only you knew about.

For me the album crystallizes around "Origin of Species", where fractal universes spin in and out of being deep within the atomic structure of emergent microbes....

This album has a way of inspiring flights of imagination, you'd be missing out to pass on this gift.

(*Fyodor Dostoyevsky, from track #3, "On the Nature of Consciousness)

Reviewer: joiadentro - - July 14, 2006
Subject: a diamond in the ruff

Wavespan has become one of my most cherished recordings in a few weeks of listening.

That is why I have written this short poem:

Shine shine undermine
the worries evaporate unbidden
in a gllimpse of genuis-rhyme
reflection's face unhidden

Phil's music provides an auditory landscape equally fit for witty conversation and solo introspection. Enjoy the ride!