Milieu

Function Buttons by Mark Hamn, released on Complementary Distribution last December, is a diverse mix of electro-acoustic music and synthesized experimentation. Ultra-modern and almost folk-inpsired passages mix, blending with each other to produce something both pleasant and intriguing.

The first track, Un autre chose illustrates this pefectly. Noisy crackles gracefully give way to a strung instrument, probably an acoustic guitar, with a simple theme that is revisited throughout the piece. Hamn introduces sampled percussive sounds, and continues to explore the timbres of the “crackles” that organise themselves around the percussion.

Les structures a son inspiration is more sombre, and uses an electronic melody that slowly swells, incorporating other more esoteric sounds amidst the ebb and flow of Hamn’s experimentation. The piece has a simple structure that culminates naturally towards the end, leaving behind quiet feedback at the end.

Groupe scénique is more hectic than the previous pieces, and uses a technique many electro-acoustic composers use whereby samples are taken of passages and looped for a few bars, and then changed or layered with other melodies and sounds. This gives rise to interesting rhythms in the melodies, and because they are repeated it’s easy for the listener to get a handle on where Hamn’s taking the piece.

Unlike the other pieces, La dureé d’une respiration makes more use of sampled percussion, although only briefly. This time, the experimentation Hamn sets as the backdrop for the piece is more subdued, as if suggesting age or decay. Vocals rise above this backdrop, making this piece standout somewhat.

Chaos is apparent in the Le pragmatisme, and perhaps the title is a reflection on the mentality of the pragmatist. And cleverly, chaos gives rise to an optimistic ambience.

Hamn finishes Function Buttons with On cherche a se rapprocher d’un idéal, which I believe translates to “One who seeks has to approach an ideal.” This time, another miasma of experimental electronic sounds again suggest age, perhaps alluding to memory. Notes play a listless tune that borders on the melancholic, leaving in the listener’s mind a sense of tired forgetfulness.