Twilight Clones

by Robert Ziino
Self-published (BMI Artist), 2004
Audio CD-ROM, 32'08", $13.00
Artist Website: http://www.experimentalartists.com/.

Reviewed by Stefaan Van Ryssen
Hogeschool Gent
Jan Delvinlaan 115, 9000 Gent, Belgium

stefaan.vanryssen@pandora.be

Robert Ziino has been around at the electronic music stage since the 80's of last century. This is his first solo CD. All tracks are constructed along similar lines. A rhythmic loop supports some improvisational synthesizer melodic voice, much like a cantus firmus supporting a treble voice in late medieval music. The timbre and the instruments are contemporary; the idea is as old as recorded Western music. So what's the point? According to the composer, the atmosphere of the CD should be futuristic or science-fiction like. Disorientation, fear, biomechanical lifeforms, and warped perceptions should be all around. At a superficial level, this is, indeed, the case, thanks to the screeching sounds and the threatening baseline. As a contribution to the universum of electronic music however, it is not a fearsome product. The CD has a nice picture at the back, though.