Disquiet

Not all the freely downloadable music at the website of Robert (Monolake) Henke is outtakes of Henke’s past recordings. He some time back posted the complete, out-of-print album Steady State Music, released by Wieland Samolak in 1993. It was the first record ever on the Imbalance record label. Its five tracks consist of low rumbles, gestural textures, and, foremost, treated noise — noise so dramatic and rich that what is initially essentially the sound of a TV set on a dead station comes, in time, to have the depth of a large-scale choral arrangement. Get the full set at monolake.de. The files are all compressed at a generous 320kbps, all the better to drone — er, zone — out to.

By Marc Weidenbaum