Per Bloland - Shadows of the Electric Moon

 Per Bloland - Shadows of the Electric Moon

Shadows of the Electric Moon seems like yet another work only 'cool' to other performers who have bothered to waste at least hundreds of hours to learn it.

It takes extreme patience to sit and listen to this fifteen- minute long work for solo percussion and electronics. Per Bloland clearly has an impeccable understanding of what sounds can be coaxed out of just a snare drum, cymbal, and crotale, but the piece itself it unbearably long for seemingly no reason. Shadows of the Electric Moon seems like yet another work only 'cool' to other performers who have bothered to waste at least hundreds of hours to learn it (listen to it here).

On rare occasions, Bloland gives the audience a small taste of a groove onto which they can latch, but never for more than a few seconds at most. These sections allow the audience to actually hear all of the intricate and interesting changes the sound exerciser is making. I do wish that Bloland implemented these sections for either longer spans, or closer to the beginning, so that the rest of the abstract percussion hits could be made into something intelligible. 

One part of the music did stick out from the rest. Bloland's idea of dragging a credit card across the drumhead to create a steady sound while manipulating the mouse cursor position to change its resonant pitch was simply something fun to hear. I almost wish that this single concept was expanded out into its own separate work.


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© 2022 Brutal New Music Reviews
originally written and published 25 April 2022

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