Keith Fullerton Whitman
Multiples CD | Kranky
1. Stereo Music for Hi-Hat (6) | mp3
4. Stereo Music for Serge Modular Prototype (6) - Part Three | mp3
6. Stereo Music for Farfisa Compact Duo Deluxe (18), Drum Kit (3) | mp3
7. Stereo Music for Acoustic Guitar (8), Buchla Music Box 100 (2), Hewlett Packard Model 236 Oscillator (3), Electric Guitar and Computer (3) - Part One | mp3
Keith Fullerton Whitman has described himself as being enamored of "hyper-programmed rhythms & concrete sounds, bleeding freakout guitar, Beach Boys-style sweet harmony, eastern euro-prog, vintage synth burbles, classic-era minimalism, early mainframe computer music, fluxus-lineage borderline nonsense, complete and utter chaos, doomy chamber pop, and quiet melancholy." I think it's time to start asking what doesn't Whitman's music touch on. Whitman's previous solo work for kranky has expanded from the processed guitar drones of Playthroughs to the tribal psych ritual of "Schnee" on the Antithesis LP and on to the ominous miasma of Schoner FluBengel. Whitman returns here bearing yet another facet of his sonic schizophrenia, Multiples.
Multiples was recorded at the Harvard University studios, where a stash of vintage synthesisers and electronics was made available to Whitman during his time as a lecturer there. The eight tracks on Multiples flow through hi-hat shimmer to skull-scraping electronic tones to interlocking clusters of repetition. This is Whitman's most inclusive and developed album yet. Whilst the limited edition Antithesis and Schoner FluBengel LPs released in 2004 showed the range of Whitman's interests, Multiples integrates them into a complete work.