Lisbon [EP]

Keith Fullerton Whitman | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (April 18, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: EP
• Label: Kranky
• ASIN: B000ETRB90
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #134,089 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

With all of his recent explorations into vintage analog equipment, drones, collaborations, and everything else under the sun as Hrvatski, it's amazing that Keith Fullerton Whitman has time to eat a good meal, let alone release albums and tour with such breakneck speed. But this particular recording is something special when placed in contrast to the rest of Whitman's work. This is a raw, nearly untouched recording of a performance in Lisbon on October 2005 where he picks up on some of the ideas left in 2002's excellent Playthroughs and blends them with elements of every single release he's had since, quirky synth signals, frantic digital chirps, field recordings, and other assorted sounds all harvested and filtered through his custom computer programs and processes. At times the performances are somber and gentle, progressing along with a slow grace and subtle nuances, and there are other moments when Whitman destroys that vibe with tension and dissonance. But it's this tension that leads to progress throughout the performance, and when it comes to experimental music, few do it better than Whitman. This is the embodiment of everything he's presented under his own name thus far, and the results couldn't be any more enjoyable. ~ Rob Theakston, Rovi

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the most well rounded pieces from KFW yet, May 13, 2006

By 

somethingexcellent (Lincoln, NE United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Lisbon (Audio CD)

Even though he's created some interesting and fun diversions under the name Hrvatski, Keith Fullerton Whitman has seemingly upped the ante with his music since jumping to the Kranky label several years ago. His Playthroughs album was a glimmering sheet of somewhat austere ambient music that sounded something like the aural equivalent of water vapor turning into frost. Between that album and the excellent Multiples disc from last year, he even put out a couple more experimental vinyl-only releases that found him toying even more with different styles.

The Lisbon EP finds Fullerton Whitman coming full circle, returning to the style that he used to create the Playthroughs album and extending the vision and scope of that world. Recorded live during a performance at the Galeria Ze Dos Bois (in the capital of Portugal, naturally), this single, 42-minute track is a mixture of sine-tone flickering, field-recordings, old school-synth loops, and processed guitar all run through computer patches, then re-captured and re-filtered through various microphones and small speakers placed throughout the venue.

Based on the above explanation, it seems like things could get messy, but it's a credit to Fullerton Whitman's steady hand that he keeps a nice reign on things and eases the listener in naturally. The long piece opens quiety, with almost a quarter of the track passing by in soft sine pulses and warbles before some filtered field recordings and synth buzz start to creep into the mix. By the halfway point, the piece has turned into a pulsing cloud of dense granulated overlapping tones and the result is something completely gorgeous.

In turn, the dense mass dissolves into a heavy, somewhat harsh drone before dropping off into sparse field recordings that skitter and clank and play with open spaces. Eventually, the buzzing frequencies burst back into the mix and by the end, powerful washes have piled on, turning the track into sort of a heavy Charlemagne Palestine-style timbre drone. If you found Playthroughs to be a little too uniform, Lisbon is a release that finds Whitman honing in on his powers and creating something even more engaging.

(from almost cool music reviews)

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Lisbon, August 7, 2010

By 

hired goon - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Lisbon (Audio CD)

I wouldn't call this an EP, as Amazon states. Keith Fullerton Whitman's Lisbon, however you want to classify it, is one 41 minute piece recorded live in, ahem, Lisbon. Needless to say, patience by the listener is required. I don't get a huge emotional response from this recording, but, rather, sheer intimidation. My heart rate rises simultaneously with that of the pulsating electronic drones of the music, which reaches two window-shattering climaxes along the way.

Lisbon will lull you into a false sense of security and then demolish your preconceived notions of what 'ambient' music should be. Highly recommended for the adventurous.