The American ensemble
Green Room is a free improvisation trio that employs electronics, pianos (prepared and otherwise), electric guitars, samples, percussion, flutes, viola, etc., for a murky ride into the world of the "hidden." What they assemble is engaging in places, if thoroughly derivative of others who've gone the route before, from Stockhausen to
Luc Ferrari to the early sound constructions of the German pop group DAF. Interestingly, there are ten selections here, and it is virtually impossible to tell one from another with the exception of track marks on the CD. Given this, the two longest tracks, "Flux" and "Satellites," work best. They tend to start slower, and offer their few ideas more sparingly because there is a lot of territory (tape) to cover. They offer an uninterrupted flow of information for a longer period, allowing the listener to drift in a little farther. They are innocuous bits of ambient detritus washed up from a netherworld caused by a lack of imagination or editing. It's too bad, because the one or two ideas they do have are good ones, though they are lost in a sea of musical and electronic muck with nothing to anchor them to. ~ Thom Jurek