The Speed of Ambient

Despite a lingering reputation for stasis, ambient music does not all necessarily proceed at the same pace. Even putting aside ambient recordings that engage with a pulse or a beat, there is ambient that sounds like time is standing still, and there is also ambient that sounds like time is rushing by — and everything in between. This live performance by Nick Lisher, who records as Lesjamusic, edges toward the latter. The video has an internal momentum that, in combination with a gently grating form of sonic processing, suggests the whir of countless small machines making extended and continued work of some intractable problem. A hovering drone amid the delicate noise is almost a soundtrack to the soundtrack: a shadow of the frantic sounds.

I wrote previously about Lesjamusic back in early May.