feld003 PURE

"HOME IS WHERE MY HARDDISK IS VOL. 2"

Pure, as half of Ilsa Gold, made a conspicuous debut in the early 90s rave scene and then managed to trash the culture in a most ungracious way before making a quick exit.  For this reason, it's always interesting to wonder what he might have taken along with him from that “tradition” as he left – and then to speculate as to what his work might sound like if he hadn't taken such a willful turn away from techno.  A helpful clue when listening to his current work, however, is to think of the space exploration aspect of, for instance, Underground Resistance, rather than the dance aspect; and then, it also helps to factor in a certain mitteleuropäische gravitas present in Pure's music.

Within Pure's work, "home is where my harddisc is Vol.II" will prove to be crucial:  made up of two live performances only 9 days apart and in very different locations (Brussels, Winnipeg), it presents an exciting new chapter in his artistic development.

While the Winnipeg track continues along the lines of his more recent recordings (e.g. “Noonbugs” on Mego), it stands as a fine culmination of this particular phase of creativity.  In its single-minded resolve – for instance, the long, penetrating tones that slowly interact and mutate – the performance also compares quite favorably to pieces by his various Japanese counterparts.  In this respect, Pure's ear has never been better at exploring, and elaborating on, just the right transcendent frequency.

The Brussels track not only ranks among Pure's best, but among the most fascinating of the genre.  We hear processes decay, transform, take new turns, and gain new momentum.  Snatches of the past momentarily emerge, either as memories or as though whatever late-Romantic choral work being sampled and mangled is simply there floating in the ether (as Marconi himself believed), in the fading but still-present radio waves of past broadcasts.  In this piece, the artist seems less concerned with in-your-face aural tension (though there's plenty of that too).  Rather, while still using the individual sound-vocabulary that he has painstakingly developed for himself over the past decade, here he's less concerned with control; he's more content to set things in motion, watch them evolve, and gently send them in unexpected but viscerally pleasurable and highly varied directions.