Osborn, Ed – “Stone North” – [Estuary Ltd.]

Max Level   1/7/2014   A Library, CD

Three pieces (5, 11 and 26 minutes) by mysterious sound artist Osborn, who seems to be affiliated with Mills College and various other institutions of creative music. He uses extended techniques and electronic processing on electric guitars and, on the first piece, amplified skis as a sound source. The ski piece is full of deep roaring sounds, which is evidently what you get if you take skis, amplify them, and coax sounds out of them. The second piece is the most percussive as Osborn bangs on his guitar and its pickups–it’s probably the noisiest track. The third piece is the most electronic sounding with its fractured layers of droning feedback emanating from Osborn’s tabletop guitar. Attractively active ambient works here. The compositions are from 1989, 1992, and 2009.