Simon Keep

Based upon various sound sources recorded on MiniDisc during a trip to Japan, Interview with the Eggs began as a multi-headphone gallery installation simply presenting the sounds as they occurred. For the purposes of CD release the artist has returned to the sources, which included snow, Buddhist meditation and volcanic steam, and worked over the sound files to unlock the experience of "hearing.” While the idea is intriguing, the execution does not do it justice. The finished tracks are short snapshots varying from near-silent granular specks to thunderous reverberations seemingly without relation to each original source. The sound shaping strategies are repeated several times, juxtaposing near inaudible cricketing with sudden distorted outbursts that fail to shock after the first time. Sloppy edits at the end and beginning of tracks are occasionally jarring, as are the overly grainy moments where the sound is pushed beyond its ability to convey information, leaving only digital distortion.