1. Fossil Culture 1
2. Fossil Culture 2
3. Fossil Culture 3
4. Fossil Culture 4
5. Fossil Culture 5
6. Fossil Culture 6
7. Fossil Culture 7
Prolific in their ongoing endeavours stretching as far back as the 70s, Peter Frohmader and Richard Pinhas (of Heldon) come together and create something very interesting. Released by experimental US label Cuneiform Records. Their expertise in electronic experimentation and manipulation of guitar distortion and sound layering are well demonstrated throughout this album, taking full advantage of the CD's 70+ duration.
A lot of what I really like about Fossil Culture is its pacing. They take their time with exploring a variety of interesting soundscapes, giving ample time for the synergy between the electronics and meticulous guitar manipulation to work their magic. It seems that perhaps these were the best takes of various jams they did together, as suggested by its creative spontaneity. The range of electronic elements from techno beaks to synthscapes is impressive and well mixed.
The tone, atmosphere, and overall mood comes off as very brisk, sometimes dark, and psychedelic. Track 4 has a very interesting mood that seems to descend into an abyss with dull flashes of light scattered by the plucking of a bass guitar and harmonic distortions and some interesting experiments with water.
Fossil Culture is very good at what it does, with a staggeringly huge breadth of electronic instruments and techniques. While it does work adequately as a gallery of what I presume are the best outtakes of various jams, it would have also been interested to see what these musicians could do together with a more coordinated approach to their song writing. I would love to see Frohmader and Pinhas get back together because I really think they were onto something here. 8/10
