Zon On N is not a Zen-ambient Stephen Bishop cover band. It’s two musicians with a keen interest in the under-heard. They are Mario Radinovic and Howard Jaques, who together recorded the 51st and latest in the touchradio.org.uk series. Theirs is an hour-long performance, aptly titled “One Long Track.” It opens with soft, slight frequencies and the Morse code of some sad, sinking vessel. Radinovic is credited with oscillators and multiple effects units, Jacques with melodica, singing, percussion, and electronics.
The music employs short-term echoes and delayed stereo effects to maximize its minimal materials. Small beeps echo across the ear-scape. Heard once, they’re mere, momentary blips, but when repeated they bring a conceptual certitude that enhances their simplicity. Those blips arrive atop a bed of droning melodica that (thanks to decades of Ennio Morricone soundtracks) signals a barren frontier. In time, wildly eerie sounds and shuddering bass alternate with what sound like snippets of ancient broadcasts.
More on the release at touchradio.org.uk. More on Radinovic at myspace.com/marioradinovic.