Vidna Obmana

Tip! Vidna Obmana (whose real name is Dirk Serries) evokes the sunless wet gloom of his native Belgium in this CD which, as its name says, is music composed by Obmana as background sound for an aquarium installation. It has seven sections of his atmospheric (or rather, aquatic) ambience, dating from '92 and '93. Obmana stays with his familiar repertoire of long, floating electronic drone tones over percussion and sound effects. When he uses tonality, he favors somber open elevenths and fifths, intervals which could be considered his "signature." Other sections use microtones. The watery ambience is constantly reinforced by the sound of rainstick rattles, recorded water sounds, the occasional fish groan or human voice, and of course the obligatory vast reverberation. This is quintessentially European electronic music, harkening back to the ring modulator and oscillator work done by Belgian and Dutch composers back in the '50s and '60s – one could even call it, at this 21st century date, "traditional." It has an autumnal quality, like a long, rainy day in November. It moves slowly, like waves of clouds, filling the listening room with audible mist, peaceful but chilly and very soggy.