Entropic Advance
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A Subsidiary of CAVE (1999), 5/10
New Improved Formula (1999), 5/10
Water for Your Eyes (2000), 6/10
Red Yellow Noise (2002) , 7.5/10
Monkey With A Gun (2003), 6.5/10
Mad Cow BBQ (2004), 6.5/10
Textures (2011), 6.5/10
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Entropic Advance is the project of two Seattle-based avantgarde musicians, Wesley Davis (trumpet and vocals) and Casey Jones (bass and percussions). Formed in 1998, Entropic Advance performed at several multimedia events. A Subsidiary of CAVE (Symbolic Insight, 1999) and New Improved Formula (Symbolic Insight, 1999) introduced their blend of warped melodies, digital arrangements, multi-layered rhythms, ambient electronica and sound collage.

Excerpts from a four-hour performance by Wesley Davis (trumpet), Casey Jones (bass) and Jim Deal (turntable and samples) surfaced on Water for Your Eyes (Symbolic Insight, 2000), In that same year John Schuller on guitar, Phil Petrocelli on drums, Casey Jones on bass, Wesley Davis on trumpet recorded Trepanning Drill (Sonarchy, 2000).

The double-disc Red Yellow Noise (Symbolic Insight, 2002), spanning their whole range of sonic experiences, represents the duo's mature statement.
The first disc is a concept album in itself, the tracks being sequenced as to achieve maximum impact and to tell a sort of metaphysical story. The proceedings open with the syncopated, discrete dance of Blank Expression, which sort of introduces the "modern" humans and their neuroses. The heavy industrial voodoobilly of Tire Fire (distorted beats, primordial sounds, jazz trumpet, like Chet Baker fronting Godflesh) engulfs the listener in a threatening atmosphere, that spills over into the Nine Inch Nails-ish psychodrama of DNA 32 (psychotic whispers over disconnected beats). The inventive rhythms of Acceptable Damage set the stage for the eerie, gothic, expressionistic piece Do You Think He's Dead.
This segues into a crescendo of dramatic compositions. The 12-minute Ugly Liquid Piano is a strange animal, recycling free-jazz doodlings, mutating hip-hop beats, a phantom trumpet in the distance, and then diving into an interlude of free-form found noises that morphes into tribal drumming and jungle-evoking trumpet lines. The "exotic" theme is continued in the 8-minute funereal dirge The Forest Is Doomed amid African chants, middle-eastern trumpet, and plantation rhythms morphing into thumping disco beats. The apocalyptic drumming and electronic nebulae of Two Centuries of Exile reiterate the expressionistic feeling, but then a petulant trumpet leads the swinging dance of Survival And Ash, that seems to accompany a ceremony of catharsis. The first disc comes to an end with the 11-minute electronic nightmare of Big River, torn to pieces by a maelstrom of devilish drums, ghostly vocals and trance-y trumpet wails. Here the earthly and the cosmic themes, the primitive and the futuristic themes achieve a fusion that is both galvanizing and horrifying.
The second disc comprises ten untitled tracks that alternate between the first track's soothing ambient drones and extra-terrestrial signals and the dark, surreal whirls of sound of the third and fourth tracks, between the fifth track's distorted threnody and the sixth track's alien frequencies (both bordering on "musique concrete"), between the seventh track's terrifying wall of noise and the tenth track's grandiose "om" towering over a jelly of found sounds. The second track, in particular, is a veritable concert, beginning with trumpet vertigoes over a hypnotic bass loop, sailing through dub-like reverbs and found noises, and ending in a desolate soundscape of dissonances and voices. The second disc is, overall, an utterly different beast, a suite of avantgarde music that borrows and transcends ideas from Karlheinz Stockhausen, the Mnemonists, the Art Ensemble Of Chicago, Edgar Varese, Pierre Henry and contemporary electronic sculptors.
An ebullient cauldron of genre-defying experiments, this album stands as a platform to reform the world of music as it was passed from the 20th century to the 21st century.

Wesley Davis, whose background is in jazz and classical music, and who played in Social Issue between 1989 and 1991 (two albums on Hollywood Records), is also active as Bios+a+ic.

Davis and Jones are the only personnel on Monkey With A Gun (Symbolic Insight, 2003). The sound relies even more heavily on Davis' ghostly trumpet, a worthy successor to Jon Hassell's fourth-world trumpet, particularly within the floating soundscapes of Charisma and Red Tide that open the disc.
As usual, the most satisfying tracks are the lengthier ones. The musique concrete of Tweeter Reamer (eight minutes) slowly unfolds, and reveals whispers and echoes embedded in electronic clusters, thus creating a morbid and murderous atmosphere not too different from Nine Inch Nails'. The chamaleon-like Copper Glow (nine minutes) begins with the percussions unleashing a tribal fury in a jungle of subtle noises, and ends with the trumpet intoning middle-eastern melodies. By comparison with these sinister scores, the quiet and melodic Disc 56 (nine minutes) is easy-listening, soft jazz, trip-hop. The voodoo beat over a tide of samples in Bolt (ten minutes) is the most hypnotic moment of the album. The closing Affraid To Change is a subliminal psychodrama that relies on a steady pulse and whispered emotion-less lyrics, like Suicide (the New York band) in the stratosphere.
For the record, City Of Gold is the closest thing to a "song" on this album.

(Translation by/ Tradotto da Paolo Latini)

Entropic Advance è il progetto di due musicisti d'avanguardia di Seattle, Wesley Davis (tromba e voce) e Casey Jones (basso e percussioni). Dal 1998, anno della loro formazione, gli Entropic Advance si sono esibiti in molti eventi multimediali. A Subsidiary of CAVE (Symbolic Insight, 1999) e New Improved Formula (Symbolic Insight, 1999) introducono la loro miscela di melodie deformate, arrangiamenti digitali, ritmiche multi-dimensionali, elettronica ambient e collage sonori.

Su Water for Your Eyes (Symbolic Insight, 2000), si possono ascoltare estratti da una performance di quattro ore di Wesley Davis (tromba), Casey Jones (basso) e Jim Deal (giradischi e samples). In quello stesso anno John Schuller alla chitarra, Phil Petrocelli alla batteria, Casey Jones al basso, Wesley Davis alla tromba registrarono Trepanning Drill (Sonarchy, 2000). 

Il doppio Red Yellow Noise (Symbolic Insight, 2002), summa del loro bagaglio di esperienze sonore, rappresenta la maturazione del duo.
Il primo disco è di per sé un concept-album, la sequenza delle tracce è pensata per raggiungere il massimo impatto e per raccontare una sorta di storia metafisica. Si parte con la danza sincopata di Blank Expression, che introduce gli umani "moderni" e le loro neurosi. Il pesante voodoobilly industrial Tire Fire (battiti distorti, suoni primordiali, trombe jazz, come se Chet Baker incontrasse Godflesh) sommerge l'ascoltatore  in un'atmosfera spaventosa, che si schiude nello psicodramma Nine Inch Nail-iano di DNA 32 (sussurri psicotici su un ritmo disconnesso). Le ritmiche inventive di Acceptable Damage preparano la terra per la pièce irreale, gotica ed espressionistica Do You Think He's Dead.
Segue un crescendo di composizioni drammatiche. I 12 minuti di Ugly Liquid Piano disegnano uno strano animale, riciclando abbozzi free-jazz, rubando battiti hip-hop, una tromba fantasma in lontananza, e quindi cade in un interludio di rumori  free-form che si trasformano in un drumming tribale accompagnato da linee di tromba che evocano la jungle. Il tema "esotico" continua negli 8 minuti della messa funerea The Forest Is Doomed divisa tra cori africani, trombe mitteleuropee, e colonie di ritmiche che mutano in un palpitante beat disco. Il drumming apocalittico e la nebbia elettronica di Two Centuries of Exile ripetono il sentimento espressionistico, ma subito una tromba petulante guida il la danza swing di Survival And Ash, che sembra preludere una cerimonia catartica. Il primo disco si chiude con l'incubo elettronico di 11 minuti Big River, fatto a pezzi da un maelstrom di batterie infernali, voci spettrali e muri di trance e trombe. Qui i temi terreni e cosmici, primitivi e futuristici raggiungono una fusione che è al contempo galvanizzante e spaventosa.
Il secondo disco comprende dieci tracce senza titolo, che si alternano tra i veloci droni ambient  e i  segnali extra-terrestri della prima traccia e le cupe, surreali girandole di suoni della terza e della quarta traccia, tra le trenodie distorte della quinta traccia e le frequenza aliene della sesta (entrambe molto vicine alla "musique concrete"), tra i terrificanti muri di rumore della settima traccia e i grandiosi "om"  della decima traccia che torreggiano su una gelatina di suoni. La seconda traccia, in particolare, è un autentico concerto, che prende l'abbrivio da una tromba vertiginosa su un loop di basso, per continuare con riverberi dub e rumori fusi, e culminare nella desolazione di una fitta rete di dissonanze e voci. Il secondo disco è, dopo tutto, una bestia estremamente diversa, una suite di musica d'avanguardia che prende a prestito e sublima idee da Karlheinz Stockhausen, Mnemonists, the Art Ensemble Of Chicago, Edgar Varese, Pierre Henry e i contemporanei scultori elettronici.
Un calderone ribollente di esperimenti di definizioni di generi, questo disco è la piattaforma da cui partire per riformare il mondo della musica, ora che è passato dal XX al XXI secolo.

Wesley Davis, che affonda le proprie radici nella musica jazz e nella classica, già nei Social Issue tra il 1989 e il 1991 (due album su etichetta Hollywood Records), è attivo anche come Bios+a+ic.

David e Jones sono soli su Monkey With A Gun (Symbolic Insight, 2003). Il suono fa ancor più leva sulla tromba spettrale di Davis, degno successore della tromba di Jon Hassell, in particolare negli schemi sonori fluttuanti di Charisma e Red Tide poste in apertura.
Come sempre, le tracce più convincenti sono quelle più lunghe. La musique concrete di Tweeter Rearner (otto minuti) lentamente si apre e rivela sussurri ed eco incastonati in clusters elettronici, per poi creare un'atmosfera tanto morbida quanto omicida non troppo differente da quelle create da Nine Inch Nails. La camaleontica Copper Glow (nove minuti) inizia con delle percussioni che presto sguinzagliano una furia tribale in una giungla di rumori insinuanti, e termina con delle melodie mediorientali intonate alla tromba. A confronto con queste score sinistre, la quieta e melodica Disc 56 (nove minuti) è un esercizio sospeso tra easy-listening, soft-jazz e trip-hop. Il battito voodoo dopo la marea di samples in Bolt (dieci minuti) è il momento di gran lunga più ipnotico dell'album. La conclusiva Afraid to Change è un psicodramma subliminale che sfrutta una pulsazione decisa e liriche sussurrate e prive di emozioni, come i Suicide (la band di New York) nella stratosfera.
In tutto il disco, City of God è la cosa che più si avvicina ad una "canzone".

Entropic Advance was still the duo of Wesley Davis (bios+a+ic) and Casey Jones (Noise Poet Nobody) but it got help from Carl Farrow (inBoil) and Otis Fodder (Bran Flakes), who added synthesizer and theremin, for Mad Cow BBQ (2004). The ten-minute Ketchup begins with a soothing female voice repeating "relax" but its effect is exactly the opposite: the ghostly drones and the tiny looped glitches create an unnerving atmosphere. Both the droning sounds and the rhythmic sounds keep morphing, but the whole remains understated. This is relaxation after an electroshock in a mental hospital, and a good introduction to what follows. The trumpet's agonizing wail (overdubbed to sound almost orchestral) segues smoothly into Sesame Seed Buns where it succumbs to a syncopated polyrhythm. A complex mix of what sounds like ticking clocks turns into a sequence of loud Welcome to the Machine-kind vibrations in Potato Salad. Hot Dogs is a whirling blurred symphony of buzzing noise, millions of bees at work around their beehive. The exceptions to the "calmly neurotic" rule are the powerful Relish (the album's standout), that begins as a pulsing android march fueled by electrical short-circuits and ends as a multi-layered fanfare of industrial machines, then Grade A Ground Round (the 8th track), a disorienting cacophonous concerto, and finally the closer (ninth track), Entropic Advance, another android movie soundtrack of sorts. There is, of course, a lot more than Davis' processed trumpet and Jones' customized slide guitar at work. This is now full-fledged digital chamber music.

After a long hiatus Entropic Advance (now a trio consisting of Wesley "bios+a+ic" Davis, Circle Six and DJ Bahiya) concocted the two lengthy pieces of Textures (2011): Phoenix (35:55) and Burning (27:55). The former begins in a claustrophobic quasi-silence (low-volume television voices, a distant pulsing vibration, an undercurrent of slow breathing) and then it gets even more skeletal and spooky, a multitude of fragile rhythmic patterns in a molass of undulating drones. The rhythm picks up, and the soundscape of samples and electronic effects gets a bit more turbulent, but it is still essentially a music of minimal sensory impact. Burning, however, gets even more depressed: martial funereal mourning leading to macabre drones, in particular a trumpet one that sounds like a fog horn, leading to a murky vortex of "om"-like "voices", leading to a loud wall of radio signals, leading to a dramatic church-like atmosphere, with the drones becoming more and more terminal. This is the better of the two, and probably the temporary peak of Davis' wedding of glitch music, musique concrete and droning minimalism.

(Translation by/ Tradotto da xxx)

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