With his latest release, California sound and visual artist Steve Roden has created a fascinating meditation on single sound source, which is in this case a small hand-held bell. Not content to just ring the bell in the typical fashion, Roden elicited sound from it in any way he could, including rubbing the surface of it and tapping the handle. Ultimately, all of the bell's sounds were combined and electronically manipulated to form a cohesive and beautiful twenty-two-minute piece in which Roden finds the hidden soul of a seemingly common object.

The most striking aspect of this piece is the variety of sounds that Roden was able to create and collect, keeping in mind their humble source. Everything from ethereal drones, scrapes, and taps to the light wind chime-esque sounds of the bell's ring works their way into the mix. Really, its hard to believe that there were not scores of instruments put to use, as the piece simultaneously evokes the sounds of stringed instruments, synthesizers, tape effects, and percussion. It's certainly worth listening to again and again to try and decipher the various sounds and also to fully absorb the beautiful music that Roden was able to produce. 9/10 -- Matt Blackall (20 August, 2009)