Black To Comm - Alphabet 1968

Black To Comm is the avant-guard, audio-experimental outlet of Dekorder label owner Marc Richter. BTC exists somewhere between minimal techno (like Gas or The Sight Below), noise, and ambient music by way of electro-acoustic field and studio recordings, traditional acoustic, and electric instrumentation, looped-damaged vinyl, as well as something that Richter refers to as “kitchen gamelan.” Alphabet 1968 is the latest 45-minute journey to BTC’s ever-growing discography and is a gentle trip to places both afar and in your mind. “Jonathan” starts off the album with field recordings of rain and distant children and slowly oscillates into a submarine drone before slipping into a dark-colored piano passage that is complimented by tape hiss and playful loops of unrecognizable instruments. “Forst” is the album's longest (and strongest) track, which is fortunate given the piece’s sprawling build of, looped, backwards guitar. The track melts into a muffled 4/4 kick underneath a wash of swirling melodies and vinyl crackles. The album's center tracks mostly play with looped arpeggios while “Houdini Rites” is a cacophony of percussion on household objects. Alphabet 1968 finishes with two tracks: “Void” with its drone feast of heavy bass and background free-jazz skronk, and the deep and sweet “Hotel Freund,“which drifts off into the far reaches of some past pleasure made possible by the warm hiss of old, looped vaudeville orchestration. Alphabet is all over the map, but never fails to sound like one cohesive collection. It is a fine record that serves as a happy medium between rich sound collages and ambient minimalism.