From Oakland California we have tape Atlas (NO LABEL) by Chris Olson, calling himself Bigcat. His plan is to mix up field recordings, samples, drones, glitch and cut-up percussion segments, possibly doing so using digital software in the studio. The field recordings and samples include snippets taken from indigenous folk music of Java and Indonesia, so that we have non-Western sounds pitched alongside very modern beats, loops, and synth sounds. Some listeners enjoy the mellow and hazy ambience evoked by these tracks; to me it just seems unfocussed and woolly. In compiling his musical atlas, Bigcat doesn’t seem to have any clear idea of where he wants to travel, and when he arrives he’s not even sure what he’s looking at or what it means. There are no melodies, and no tension or interesting dynamics in these languid beats. Needless to say his compositional method is a commonplace one these days, likewise the sampling of non-Western music; none of this music improves on My Life In The Bush of Ghosts, or the work of Climax Golden Twins. Some of Bigcat’s earlier work from 2015-2018 has been collected on another album, sourced from two releases on Warm Gospel Tapes, for those curious to hear more.
