Communiste

It's a very interesting concept and makes for an interesting listen while working (which for me is programming... I always listen to something while I code).

It reminds me a lot (LOT) of the Brotherhood of Nod broadcasts in Command & Conquer and Tiberian Sun. Not the words (well sort of), but the sound of them.

It does get boring to listen after a while, but by no means bad.

It might work better in shorter segmentations with more varied sounds.

It also might help if you agree with the ideas of comminism and/or socialism.

I think Uberlulu has done a fantastic job using my voice repeating, not as a speech but as a reading of Morris' original speech. However, I can imagine the topic of communism has caused somewhat of a bugbear for certain people, and after spending my time reading a book about Cardinal Mindszenty and his resistance of communism in Hungary, I fully appreciate why some people may object and see this piece of creativity as supporting communism. It isn't and never was for me. I felt that the point of using the script of the speech, and after all, as has been noted, Morris was more an aesthetic socialist looking for a better life for the common man, was that not a lot has changed under the aegis of 'liberal', capitalist, representative democracy. Progress is a word often used too easily and liberally to cover this believe that as a common man myself, life remains difficult. In a democracy we should all be free to choose our own way of God-fearing worshipfulness, whether that be Roman Catholic or otherwise. The point being if that it is ultimately for the best, in its most utilitarian form, then that cannot be a bad thing. Even if its just making someone a nice chair to sit in!-) Thanks for all the responses, good and bad. Communication is the key, not communism per se.

I've been meaning to write a review for this for awhile, but it's been hard to decide what to say or what to even rate it. This isn't music as I'm accustomed to listening to or critiquing.

However, what it is is an interesting exercise in sounds and textures under (and sometimes over) an oration that the artist clearly values. There are several sounds and themes that slowly and almost imperceptibly blend in and out.

The only reason I haven't rated this higher is because it really isn't something I'd listen to all that much, even as ambient listening. It's definitely high quality work, though.

Although it can be useful to know the background to a release it is for me purely an interest and not a necessity. What counts is what my ears detect. Others have commented on the source vocal material and its content but I shall not. I shall concentrate solely on the musical value of the completed work.

This type of work tends to come in two varieties. You can get dramatic vocals with a supporting musical arrangement or quieter vocals with a more dramatic soundtrack to enhance things. This work comes into the second category. The vocal presentation here is somewhat static, you get the impression it is being presented as a book reading rather than a speech giving. The effect of the voice is rather like a vocal equivalent of the musical drone. I saw the word "mesmeric" in another review and that is probably as good a single word description as any other.

On to the music side. The impression given is one of noise. At times we get swirling, looping variations with effects a plenty as the voice is taken over, distorted and dispatched elsewhere. Then a return to normality of noise, noise and an assortment of more noise. I did find some of it overdone and lacking in control but the general feeling that comes through is not unpleasant and it marries with the vocals quite well.

So to the verdict. Vocally, I give it 4 out of 5. I would have appreciated a little more tonal variation here and there, particularly at the key points in the reading. I didn't expect vocal gymnastics but even drones do have subtle changes within them. Musically, I also score 4 out of 5. My only real concern is that the musical emphasis does not coincide with the text ones. The text ones are fixed, even if not highlighted by Ivan, so the musical ones need to coincide with them and they don't. They do appear but in odd places.

All in all, I found this to be not just a good work but rather, a really, very good one. I enjoyed it and even at 2.30 in the morning it did not send me to sleep!

Spoken word and noise go very well together, and the sonic manipulations make this a fairly interesting piece. It is worth a listen for its content as well as the way it has been manipulated, but I don't think I would ever really feel the need to listen to this again.
I think it is going to take a fairly open mind person to listen to this entire piece, and even the open minded might find it boring and a bit dragging at times. However, it is better that it is sparse than cluttered, it is good that you did not go completely overboard and know when to hold back.
From an artist's view, the sounds are getting more and more interesting as the song goes on. I can't tell what exactly you are doing all of the time, and I like that. But I don't think most listeners will be listening for things like this, and as I stated, will probably have grown bored before 1/3 of the way through.

Fans of pop music will hate it. Extreme fans of experimental music will find it intriguing (and various other synonyms).