Oscillating

The third full-length release on the Colin Newman/Malka Spigel Swim label is Immersion's "Oscillating". While the cd release itself does not credit the individuals who make up Immersion, it is both Newman and Spigel, though it sounds beyond anything either/both had done previously.However, in an effort to add some mystique to the label and get away from the impression that all Swim titles were to be by Newman and Spigel individually or in combination with others, the two concocted a story that this was actually a reclusive duo from Eastern Europe. From a Swim press release from June of '95: "Immersion first came to Swim via a mutual contact in Germany. Swim artists Oracle were very impressed by their minimal spacey style which doesn't quite sound like anything else and commissioned two remixes of tracks from their own Tree album which were first released by Swim on vinyl (VWM 1). They have since changed their name to [sic] from Oscillating to Immersion."Got that? Let me restate. After Oracle's "Tree" [see my review], Newman and Spigel put out a 12", remixing two cuts from "Tree", but as an outfit called Oscillating (with no credits as to who made up the outfit in an effort to remain mysterious). Oracle's original `Questions' becomes `No Answers', while `Surrender' becomes `No Surrender' on the two-track vinyl EP (which is apparently very rare). Oscillating subsequently changed their name to Immersion, and the first release from Immersion was titled "Oscillating". The Immersion release took the same tracks from the 12" and added them to the other seven tracks making up the full length album called "Oscillating".Confusingly, track 5 - `Sea Level', the only tune with a Spigel bass line rather than electronic bass - was mistakenly omitted from the track listing on both the booklet and the back of the disc (the tray liner). The booklet has the tracks numbered, so the listing jumps from track 4 to 6.To call this music repetitive would be to miss the point entirely; although there's more to it than may initially seem. The music is minimalistic, predominately electronic, containing no lyrics, with some cuts having an explicit, but not-quite-dance-floor-friendly, beat. Other cuts are more free-floating, with more of an ambient leaning. Most tracks begin with a single layer, then add more layers as they go, and ultimately subtract the layers one by one as the pieces close. Sometimes these layers are slightly out of sync loops, a technique used on some of the Fripp/Eno pieces of the `70s.Yet, "Oscillating" remains alluring, as, just as one gets accustomed to the groove of any of the tracks, another layer is added which is just different enough to keep things interesting. Newman and Spigel call this "organic machine music". I'll quote from a review by Craig Grannell: "With this sort of music the magic is in its simplicity and the fact that the sound is excitingly different. Not a great deal seems to happen in any one piece, although everything tends to mutate and change during its duration in a subtle, engaging manner."Standout cuts include the longest piece `Les Iles Flotantes' (The Floating Islands), `Immersion', `Water Walker' (somewhat like the Eno/Cluster `Broken Head' sans lyrics), `Envelope', and `Hydraulic'. But, there's no stinker in the bunch. Highly recommended.