- As a member of the pioneering industrial group Throbbing Gristle, and an obsessive of modular synths since forever, Chris Carter has explored many different areas of electronic music. He's built random noise generators and collaborated with artists like Coil, Robert Wyatt and his longtime partner, Cosey Fanni Tutti. If he's giving a lesson in something, as the title of his latest album suggests, there's a good chance it will be pretty interesting. Chris Carter's Chemistry Lessons Volume One, his first solo album in 17 years, is an overview of the styles he's tinkered with over the last 40-odd years.
"If there's an influence on the album, it's definitely '60s Radiophonic," Carter has said of the LP. The spectral, interstellar sound effects of the BBC Radiophonic Workshop, created by visionaries like Delia Derbyshire and Daphne Oram, pop up all over the album. That influence is most clear on tracks like "Corvus," "Inkstain," "Ghosting," "Shildreke" and "Durlin"—all bright holographic projections of sinister, sci-fi soundscapes. But rather than forming atmospheric mood pieces, these ambient sounds are often accompanied by techno and industrial-style beats.
As a solo artist and as one half of Chris & Cosey, Carter transitioned away from Throbbing Gristle's provocations—they were once called "wreckers of civilisation" by a Tory MP—towards more straight-ahead dance music, which has often been excellent. Volume One's only flaw, perhaps, is that its 25 tracks, however sketch-like, can be a lot to digest. But if the album doesn't always hit the same highs as the excellent Mondo Beat or Trance LPs, there's still plenty to love: the bending techno synth waves on "Modularity," the slowed-down Nitzer Ebb flashbacks on "Post Industrial," and the krautrock computer glitches on "Noise Floor."
Lista de títulos01. Blissters
02. Tangerines
03. Nineteen 7
04. Cernubicua
05. Pillars of Wah
06. Modularity
07. Field Depth
08. Moon Two
09. Durlin
10. Corvus
11. Tones Map
12. Dust & Spiders
13. Gradients
14. Lab Test
15. Shildreke
16. Uysring
17. Ghosting
18. Noise Floor
19. Post Industrial
20. Rehndim
21. Roane
22. Time Curious Glows
23. Ars Vetus
24. Hobbs End
25. Inkstain