Duos is my first exposure to Ellen Burr, an accomplished musician who has studied with such luminaries as John Cage and Morton Subotnick. Seven unique pieces comprise this charmingly peculiar release by the California-based flutist/artist/author. The first and final tracks on Duos are solos performed by Burr on C flute, with the middle five being collaborative efforts from which the album’s name ostensibly derives. Among these twosomes, the listener is treated to a series of interesting experiments, based on improvisation within the structure of graphic scores composed by Burr. Several of these scores appear in the liner notes, along with explanations of how they were interpreted by the artists. The fun commences with the playfully frenetic "Ball of Yarn," a lively bit of exploration on C flute that masterfully brings its subject into the mind’s eye. One can easily envision a ball of yarn unraveling, perhaps while being chased around the house and batted here-and-there by a mischievous kitten. "Canon-Cards-Canon I" (track 2) features Burr (alto flute) and bassoonist Sara Schoenbeck creating a collective landscape of sound based on an intriguing technique devised by Burr. Each player has chosen three cards from a deck of sixty line gestures, with the aim being to interpret melodic and dynamic shapes based on the direction and density of the lines. Meandering along, this track is tentative, yet pleasing. Burr is joined on "Permutations ?62" by clarinetist Andrew Pask. The score for this track centers around a painting by Mary Martin in which each of seven black and white cells have been transposed into a note with pitch and duration, with the graphic permutations within the picture being used to create the flute and clarinet lines. The result is an upbeat frolic, with stray notes, runs, and trills tumbling haphazardly from both instruments. "Four Square" pairs Burr (C flute) with percussionist Jeanette Kangas in a sixteen minute exploration of rhythm and sound. The tune was created through the selection and arrangement of stylistic "character cards" upon a board, with the players crafting their sonic output by following arrows within the four squares on one side of the board, then turning the board and interpreting the next set of cards. Though disjointed and sparse at times, this piece kept me wondering what was around the next bend on the board. Next is "Senbazaru," a slow-moving dance between Burr’s alto flute and the prepared bass of Steuart Liebig, with whom Burr has collaborated in the past. There are some really beautiful passages in this song, where the flute really comes to life, forging a melodic path amid the gentle meadow of subdued bass tones. "Canon-Cards-Canon II" marks the return of Sara Schoenbeck, as her bassoon takes on a whole new life in a conspicuously more hectic movement than in Canon I. The finale, "Warp & Weave," is another Burr solo, featuring her attention-grabbing technique of alternately playing and "singing," through the flute. Periods of quiet are punctuated by quick, staccato bursts of sound and notes, and some amazing runs hide in the middle of the piece, as the album skips and jumps toward its conclusion.

Minerve are singer-songwriter Daniel Wollatz and programmer Mathias Thürk. Their brand new album, Sensefiction, delivers eleven solid tracks that pulse with life, exploring some of the darker themes surrounding love: loss, isolation and introspection.

The songs come in two primary varieties – driving dance tracks and forlorn ballads. Although there is a feeling of melancholy throughout, the musical tone remains upbeat and stimulating. "Lost in Your Room," with its infectious piano refrain, and the quick-paced "Take Me Higher," are my top choices from this laudable long-player. This is a very candid album. Wollatz uses his golden voice to put the listener in his shoes, conveying an array of complex emotions through unembellished, understandable lyrics that fit perfectly with Thürk’s smooth, catchy synth lines.

Replete with strong, dramatic elements, the music of Minerve is certain to draw comparisons to Depeche Mode and Mesh. Personally, they remind me more of Wolfsheim, and at certain moments they inspire memories of more recent output by Clan of Xymox. Synthpop fans take note... this album, which rides the line between club and radio-friendliness, is certain to be one of the sleepers of 2006!

Beyond Humanity, the third album from New York-based Interface, offers a refreshing earful of forward-thinking, futuristic electro-pop. This highly-charged melodic escapade expands outward from its understated opening track, "Gravity," accelerating from zero to sixty in the blink of an eye. Staccato beats and fluid arpeggios sizzle around the vocoded articulations of singer Eric Eldredge as "Age of Computers" kicks into high gear. "Mind Killer" shows off the programming and arrangement skills of Eldredge and bandmate Jon Billian, as this highly infectious dance track palpitates like a heart on the verge of infarction! The place slows a bit on "Wonderland," but cranks back up again on "Despair," a repetitious but energetic instrumental. "Stranger in a Strange Land" incorporates samples and some nicely executed vocal melodies in a very palatable fashion. The vocoder returns on the title track, "Beyond Human," along with some very familiar, euphonic retro beats and effects – musically and thematically, one must believe there’s a nod to techno godfathers Kraftwerk in here somewhere! "Insomniac" slams on the breaks, its slow, flowing beat giving it a much darker sheen than the rest of the album. "Nobody’s Hero" is definitely a cut above, and should emerge as a dancefloor favorite for clubgoers this summer. "Faith in Nothing" closes out the album nicely, though I had to laugh while listening to the chorus, as I was reminded of the nihilists from "The Big Lebowski" – we believe in nothing! As this is an Expanded Edition, six additional remix tracks (some from deleted releases on the now-dormant Tinman record label) have been included on the disc. Contributors to this effort include Assemblage 23, Stromkern, Combichrist, Imperative Reaction, and DJ Sean Tyas. "Clear Night," remixed here by Sean Tyas, originally appeared on 2002’s "Angels in Disguise." "Doubts and Fears," an 80’s new-wave influenced track originally available via the internet, was previously only available in CD format on the "State of Synthpop 2005" 5-disc set. The other remixes feature songs from this album that sound significantly different from the originals, making for a really nice mixture of styles. Jump on this!

Gehenna, the first full-length release by Poland’s Virtual Space Industrial [VSI], paints a dire picture of the future with its simmering mix of apocalyptic themes, highly charged electronic body music and thought-provoking samples. The album is named for a Latin word, meaning "a place of torment or suffering," and sure enough there are plenty of references to hell, including a number of thinly veiled suggestions that our world is headed quickly in that direction. The first track, "Holy Children," is mildly reminiscent of X Marks the Pedwalk in sound and feel, with its mildly processed vocals and smooth, catchy electro refrains. "Liar" slows down the musical pace and cranks up the vocal distortion. "Strange Films" grows from humble beginnings into a lengthy, deeply introspective examination of personal pain and anguish. "Traitor" lashes out angrily against the irresponsibility of those who would be guardians of the human race. "Return to Beginning" is a short, sweet musical interlude that connects nicely to the subtly evangelical "Rest of my Life." "Angel of Death" is fairly brimming with homily, Father and Son coming to kick our heathen asses for our dirty perversions. At least we’re given the courtesy of a decent dance beat during this righteous reaming! "Right Hand of God" puts war under the microscope, mocking man’s folly in the face of a higher power. "Love for a Moment" is lyrically cryptic, but pleasant nonetheless with its repetitive refrain. "Hope" injects a bit of their native Polish tongue into the mix with an incantation during the early part of the track, and chugs along on the rails of an arp refrain that is very similar to Evils Toy, circa Human Refuse. A much more languid pace drives the instrumental track, "Shadow of Death." The slow progression at the beginning of "Bad Dream" is something I’ve heard before, but I can’t remember the source for the life of me. It is quickly shed in favor of a fast-paced beat, evolving into the most solid dance track on the entire disc. The disc ends on a somewhat hopeful note, as VSI sing of a "New World Order." This album appears on Pandailectric, a German label, and follows an earlier EP entitled Angel of Death, which was released in 2002. Nice looking artwork and liner notes! The message isn’t necessarily my cup of tea, and there are some entertaining liberties taken with the English language, but the music is solid and the feeling sincere. Overall, it’s pretty damned good.

As the title implies, there is much more here than meets the ears upon first listen. These sounds are born of an exciting alliance between Matthieu Maire (formerly Celluloid Mata) and Philipp Münch (Synapscape/Ars Moriendi/TRG). A few familiar elements of both musicians’ other efforts can be found in this endeavor. However, this is definitely a new and exciting direction for the both of them, focusing more on composition and structure than either has done in any of their previous incarnations. A surfeit of sounds and experiences are laced throughout these fourteen adventurous tracks. The disc begins with a somewhat ominous feel on the opening track, "Fallen Dice," but soon breaks into a much more accessible, infectious tone. "Gws Hearse" employs some familiar sequencing with an added kick. "Huevos de Oro" blends interesting vocal manipulation with oddly transmuted instrumentation over hyperkinetic beats to create a highly attention-grabbing mix. The creative sampling and catchy sounds of "Hipsters" demands repeat listens. The guitar work on "Ish Galil" is an interesting departure for this pair, known more for their work with rhythms and synths. "Rip Rozz" once again calls upon Münch’s vocals to deliver a good, solid punch. This disc is a pleasant diversion, and certainly unique among the crop of rhythm-oriented releases that have come to define ant-zen over the past couple of years. Slightly disorienting at first, but ultimately a ride worth lining up for again and again – highly recommended!