Martin Archer, a mainstay of Sheffield's experimental scene, has released electroacoustic improvisations on his own Discus label since the mid-1990s. Here he takes up his violin, processing the results at source with computer software. Perez sits at a laptop, treating field recordings of natural sounds. "Playing a violin and manipulating a mouse at the same time is an interesting physical process," reads Archer's press release, and though listeners searching for examples of conventional virtuosity will do so in vain, the sense of considered, focused interplay between the participants is undeniable. An hour or so of abstract noise passes imperceptibly, then, suddenly, everything feels shockingly different.
Discus