Peter B, "Luteus" (2007, Resipiscent)

Peter B, Luteus
Resipiscent, 2007

Instrument builder Peter Blasser is a living legend in the homemade electronics and circuit-bending circles, and with good reason! His design schematics (which he'll apparently trade for floral specimens) are as innovative as the sounds his instruments produce are unpredictable. According to Resipiscent's press release, his "Din Datin Dudero, Tranoe, Ambrazier, and Rollable Synth behave differently depending on who plays them." Did you catch that?! Peter B's instruments don't play differently, they behave differently. Now, I don't mean to imply that any of his hand-crafted gadgets possess some sort of sentience, as fun as that might seem to an active imagination (namely, my own), but the point I mean to make is that these circuits slurp, gobble, chew up and spontaneously spit out some crazy curious soundforms. The result of Peter B going tête-à-tête with his Cocolases, Sidrassi Organs, Shinths ("the first synthesizer designed to be broken!") and who knows what else, is at once willfully self-indulgent, and undeniably whimsical. There is a strong sense of play at work on Luteus, and it's really refreshing to hear something this self-consciously sloppy sound as good as it does, as opposed to the leagues of lazy goons who erroneously assume that it's enough to make a noise without caring how it sounds as it strikes the eardrums.

Luteus features thirteen tracks, three of which were taken from a live set in 2004. Each of these tracks stand out individually due to the album's expressive, high-quality production values, one notable feature of which includes Peter B's great use of space in the recording. Often, Peter B's child-like babbling and lute strumming erupts into all manners of squiggly, blurting tones and sharp squelches and squeals, but the amount of space he gives each unpredictable sound to move within often causes his expanding and contracting oscillations to come across as almost organic. Even more impressive, is that while Peter B's homemade instruments can make a manic, Nautical Almanac-like racket, they can also be put to more traditional use.

There are several lighter moments on Luteus where Peter B shows off his latent indie-pop sensibility, performing actual songs. Many of these sing-songs are short, silly, and pleasant, and within this context, share an interesting dynamic when paired with the carefree dadaist electronics on display throughout Luteus's thirteen tracks. In fact, some of Luteus' more song-like moments are among the album's highlights, my favorite being the minimalist vocal call-and-response of "I'm your owl, what is your mystery?", which is based solely upon minimalist vocal call-and-response. That being said, personally I feel that Peter B is at his best when less focused on simplistic songcraft, and totally absorbed in provoking absurd reactions from his DIY contraptions.

Balancing it's erratic circuit-bent noise bits with a positive and playful execution, Peter B's Luteus is an album that defies easy categorization due to it's carefree mixture of pleasant sing-songs, occasional shards of high-frequency noise, senseless babbling, "crzy ass delusions", and queasy pulsating drones. Luteus comes packaged in a standard jewel-case, with an absolutely essential full-colour booklet that includes several portraits of Peter B's eclectic electro-acoustic instruments. The always reliable Resipiscent has scored once again with Luteus, a cd which freely experiments with form and flavor almost as much as the label that sought fit to release it.

Peter B's "Luteus" can be purchased at the Resipiscent records website. Peter B also performs in the trio Sejayno, whose vinyl release "Sedaity" is available from Shinkoyo, Heresee, Skulls of Heaven, BOC, and Ignivomous.