Hannant, Beaumont – “Sculptured ” – [General Production Records]

loun   6/5/2007   A Library, CD

Thirteen years after its initial release, Beaumont Hannant’s Sculptured still sounds fresh and innovative. I’d have expected this to be throroughly bitten into submission by now, but apparently it never surfaced far enough into the mainstream to have caught the attention of the masses. In a sense it’s a shame, but on the other hand I get to enjoy these songs with wide eyed wonder, since I have never heard them, or derivatives, before.

There is a certain mystique to Mr. Hannant, who exploded onto the British electronic scene in the mid 90’s, but seems to have vanished before the decade was out. Reviewers speak of him with a seeming reverence, although none that I checked had bothered to comment on what he may be up to these days. Yet I can understand a certain longing for the time-frozen creator/producer of this disc, a desire to leave him in the time in which he fathered this work – there is a timeless mystery to it which leaves one content to remain in the time and space of the music for a while… perhaps a very long while.

Masterful manipulations of eclectic sounds, and an absolute must-play!