Mike Hansen

Mike Hansen is Toronto’s best-known experimental turntablist, but At Every Point expands his sonic palette so vastly that this disc can hardly be compared to any of his records on Spool. This disc is composed and edited on computer, although his turntable sources are prominent ingredients. There are three ten-minute-plus compositions complemented by two shorter, more song-like structures. Each long form piece presents rich atmospheres, showing a great understanding of how to coherently combine seemingly random ingredients. Each of these pieces has a certain tuning where even atonal elements of record static seem to be in harmony. The balance between the urge to process sounds and leave them unaltered is well maintained. When used, the delay and harmoniser settings change constantly, which draw the listener in even further. But when "Once Held A Lighter High In The Sky” chops up some bravura rawk guitar and drums Plunderphonics style you snap back to attention. At Every Point contains some very accomplished and diverse approaches to computer composition. Best of all, it doesn’t take itself too seriously, which makes for repeat listening.