Broken Record Chamber blends turntables guitar, and electronics, and shapes this mass of sound into something unclassifiable. Somewhere between the discharges of Ground Zero and the soundtracks from Atari 2600 video games, the music of Jess Conn-Potegal (turntables, electronics), Jim Black (guitar, electronics), and Ben Wilson (drum machine, electronics) is of sound sculptures that can be both striking at times and pitiful at others. The first six tracks on Free Improv for Robots have been recorded in the studio. Sonic worlds collide with elements from musique concrète, sound collage, and cheap techno being fused together. The result is very interesting ("Quazimoto," particularly). Things get sloppier on the last five tracks, recorded live at the Sugar Refinery in Vancouver. Sound quality takes a dive as crowd noises can be heard when the music gets quiet. "Jaz-Bitch" is constructed on a funky groove with cheesy organ and washes of electronics polluting it very nicely. "French Reggae Strangulation" is long-winded with very poor sound quality (intentional?) and excerpts from old self-taught French records. Some ideas are worthwhile, but Free Improv for Robots feels like a half-baked project.
© François Couture /TiVo