Pita: Get Out (Editions Mego) - CD

A welcome reissue from one of the originators of mind-bending computer music. Peter Rehberg's 1999 release seems to have been influential in the sphere of modern electronic composition. Especially with regards to the use of the laptop as a creation and performance tool. Despite the occasional ear-scraping bursts of digital noise, this doesn't come close to the harsher end of the Mego spectrum. Certainly doesn't use software as a device for sonic violence or wanton aggression. It also hasn't dated one iota....

'3' is the track that you'll remember this album for: the jarring introduction of uplifting, almost euphoric strings that slowly descend into overdriven distortion still sounds great. '6' is gigabit data passing through an echo chamber, '9' takes harsh source material and moulds it into hypnotic drone. The three extra new tracks which previously appeared over a split release with Kevin Drumm extend the scope of the original work with distinctive, thematic excursions: feminine glitch ('ce3'), unreliable connections ('pe2') and distressed radio frequencies ('tr1').

Philip Jeck: Sand (Touch) - CD

One of those artists I knew I'd like....good sounding surname, has nicely packaged albums out on the Touch label, uses vinyl. But somehow I'd never managed to immerse myself proper in any one of his long players. Whilst his back catalogue has always been there for instant consumption (from a career spanning 13 years), it's nice to be presented with something 'new'.

Carefully considered loops are run through that detuned radio effect that he seems to have patented. The source material consisting of filmic strings, bells, chimes and most effectively brass instrumentation sampled from Emerson Lake & Palmer's 'Fanfare For The Common Man'. It all sounds pleasant enough but the sudden shifts as frequencies pile up from the decay can jolt you. Low-end notes dissolve into weighty fuzz and speaker-troubling distortion whilst high end artefacts can cut through the recording with a burst of white noise.