Mystified Music

Here are a few reviews, transplanted from different sources. I have tried to include dates, authors and links wherever possible. Note that this does not constitute the entire body of mystified reviews, but is a good representation of those that I have on file here at the studio. Enjoy!
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Aquarius Records– Cold Telemetry (Small Doses, 2008)

One of a handful of new releases from Small Doses, a micro-label that is quickly becoming one of our favorites, every disc both sonically and visually stunning.
This one is from a group/person called Mystified, the sound is a shimmering dark ambience, crafted from haunting drones and processed electronics. Mysterious metallic reverberations, soft industrial whir, abstract almost-melodies, insectoid buzz, smears of muted crackle, and crumbling distorted hiss, deep rumbles, reverbed percussion, thick squalls of slowed down grinding digital glitch, soft billowing clouds of gauzy low end smear, each track a single sound, or series of sounds, stretched and blurred into long streaks of gorgeous and ominous dark minimalism. Dreamy drones, soft focus blackened rituals, post industrial clatter, raga like buzz, expansive high end skree, all very subtle, haunting, mysterious and strangely pretty.
More super cool packaging, a thick printed card, with a printed textured diamond glued to the front, so one half of the diamond folds over and holds the cd in place. Each cd is hand numbered on the underside of the diamond, LIMITED TO 88 COPIES!

-Aquarius Records, 2008
http://www.aquariusrecords.org

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AmpersandEtc.– Various Releases

Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Mystified - Thomas Park - Treetrunk
 
It’s like a game of checkers - one position leads you to another. A while back I blogged about the netlabel Webbed Hands, particularly the Rain series. Three in the group particularly captivated me - by Mystified. Which led to a wider search across the web.

First of all there are some other Mystified (real name Thomas Park) releases on Webbed Hands, some solo and some collaborations. But there is also a pointer to his own label Treetrunk which is based in the wonderful Internet Archive (and which I had also obliquely visited while completing my K M Krebs collection). Mystified’s home page has some, though limited, information on both himself and the label. (and there’s the now obligatory MySpace page - I must be getting to old, but I don’t get the social networking side - but it does give you a chance to listen).

Mystified’s music is an interesting mix of ambient and techno styles. Following the minimal structure of his entries in the Rain series, releases such as Constant or Free Passage focus on subtle changes in the layering of ambient noises (some dense, others more minimal). Seen also in Texture (with Stephen Phillips) and Intrigue (with Flores). To my mind this is one of Mystified’s greatest strengths - some of the earlier releases, such as Electronic Ragtime are closer to the world ambient genre and are less ‘unique’. Though are then used to great effect when combined with radio sounds and samples in Screams in Space

However, in addition, Mystified is also a phonographer and many of the releases are based around found and recorded sounds - Nocturne, Cavern of Tile, Mutescape (which mellows the sounds of the city) or South City Spring for example use these as the primary component, while Audio Paintings uses other components as well. These (and a compilation I included in the Webbed Hands review) are great examples of the power of phonography/sonography.

There is also more standard keyboard/tonal ambience such as Music for Infants and Clockwork. These pieces have an aleatoric feel that relates to Mystifieds aims to create fractal music: seen in Fabrication and a series called Fractal Diner (1 - 3 on Treetrunk; whose releases are primarily by Mystified) that feature slowly modulating delicate ambiences (there is also Fractal Reflections on Webbed Hands). Many of these reminded me (positively) of Brian Eno.

As an introduction two mixtapes are available - Oddities (a collection of pieces released across various labels and formats) and Big Shoulders (an homage to Chicago and composed over tracks created over an extended time)- which make a good starting point.

While most Treetrunk releases are by Mystified (in the normal way of weblabels) some others have also been released, including K M Krebs, Akashic Crow’s Nest, Edward J Poley, Tim Doyle and the very flexible Tribe of Astronauts - all of whose interests seem to intersect with Mystified’s.

This is all free music - varied but with a underlying strength and focus. I’ve enjoyed all the pieces I have downloaded - and now have all of Treetrunk (except number 7: one complaint is that there is no ‘master list’ of releases and an Internet Archive search hasn’t brought it to light) and all the Mystifieds from Webbed Hands (including collaborations) - and find them very satisfying particularly for the deep minimal ambience that pervades many of them. (Mystified has also had many real releases, but I haven’t heard any of those). Anyway, my advice is to try some Mystified: it’s free and I am sure you will enjoy most if not all of it.

-Jeremy Keens
http://ampersandetc.blogspot.com/2008/01/mystified-thomas-park-treetrunk.html

Saturday, February 9
More Mystified
 
Following from the blog of 9 January some more on Thomas Park aka Mystified.

First, as noted at the end of that post I had only scratched the surface of his discography by focusing on Webbed Hands and Tree Trunk. By closely scrutinising his text discography (on the mystified site) I found a heap more. Regular readers of &etc across the years will know I am a bit of a completist where time, money and downloads allow. So I have been gathering these from a welter of labels (Nishi, Dreamland, Smell the stench, Jon7, Enough, Batman and Robin, Earthmantra, Blackflower, Infinite Sector, Dark Winter, Negative Sound Institute, Benekkea, 20kbps, non-quality audio, TZP drone, Kahvi, Sine fiction, 4 4 2, Umbrella, Roil noise: is them all I think) [and will have to temper my urge to then download the rest of the labels - way too much music]. There are at least 45 releases available free from these sites on top of the thirty odd from Tree Trunk and Webbed Hands.

Recognising that this is a simplification there have been three ‘phases’ to Mystified’s career to date

the first saw releases on Webbed Hands and a variety of net labels
then there was a greater focus on his own label Tree Trunk, but with other net labels getting a good look in
while currently cd-r and real label releases are coming to the fore.

Basically a fairish overview, but noting that there are still current web releases. Another simplification would be to suggest that the earlier stuff is more beaty, contains more samples while latterly there has been more minimal ambient. I would also venture to suggest that Mystified places his releases: the Nishi stuff is nicely beated and perhaps reflects the Autocad (Park’s previous incarnation) relationship with Rapoon; while 20kbs is more dubby (an interesting label, its name describes its download aesthetic - small lo-fi); Umbrella noize has a couple of albums featuring sonography. Again, there is more here than is possibly to reasonably review, and all I can suggest is that you sample a fair whack of it as there is a host of high quality ambient, dub, grooved, minimal, sonographic music on offer. As analysed below they combine shorter tracks and often a broader diversity (eg Puzzle Street on Jon7 has moved from a groovy piece through some sonography (and back to it now) to AM layers which is extremely minimal: a hum and the end groove of a record).
(More generalisations - Mystified swings between long album length works and shorter collections of tracks about 6 minutes or less in length; a further generalisation - these collections are more common on the ‘other label’ releases. As of my collection today, 60% of the tracks on Webbed Hands/Tree Trunk are less than 5 minutes compared to 88% on other labels; the data for less than 7 minutes is 73% and 95% [it’s the scientist in me! - I would do it by year too if I had the data.])
A problem that Mystified has created for himself, however, is why would anyone buy any of his releases? With so much on offer on the web, for free, purchasing may seem a poor second cousin to some. Reasons to buy however would include - better sound quality; having an actual artefact (which is important to some people); attracting people with a penchant for collecting something nearly unique by having a small run; and recognising that there will be a small but dedicated (and fluid) group of people who like the music so much they want as much as possible, another reason for smaller runs as this is not a huge market (but it is amazing how much product a prolific artist like Muslimgauze or Merzbow can sell). Anyway, in response to my previous review, Mystified has sent me two of his recent cd-rs.
Hazy Waves came out on Cloud Valley Recordings (cv-30) which is based in Canada and has runs of generally less than 50. Simple packaging that includes a track list, the cd-r is hand artfied and contains 9 songs in 43 minutes. In many of the long-form Mystified works there is a static minimalism: exemplified by Constant, which spawbed a series by other musicians, or his take on Rain. This disk contains what sound like fragments captured from longer works which have been going before you heard these bits and will still be going while you are listening to the next track. They fade in and then fade out. These are lovely pieces, Wavelength drifts in an eno-ish way exemplifying the structure here: a lovely tonal work playing over a soft buzzing - a juxtaposition seen throughout. Transmutation is whooshing over a watery flow; Fuzz drone has musical tones which surface through the fuzzy hiss and deep thrumming; Many legs with oscillating pulses, chattering and vinyl crackle-spatter. Another aspect is heard in Bring rain where a roiling cloud of sound is constantly moving forward without arriving, Amorphous is an amorphous subsonic rumbling, while the title track features a rapid chittering that sounds like a whooshing that softens and becomes more whooshy, again with tones deep within - as with much of this minimal ambient there is a psycho-acoustic quality where your brain creates other sounds from within the stasis. The edit from Chronos has more variability in its short presence, and is a fine conclusion to a nice little album (edition of 33 - hurry).
The other is Escaping Physics, the first release from Sentient Recognition Archive, in an edition of 50: 11 songs in 49 minutes. Again, these are short, often excerpts, but seem more enclosed than Hazy. A couple of tracks reflect the cover image and have a watery theme - both Freak of physics and Pulsar 2 have a dolphin or whale like sonar sweeping through with undertows of humming ambience. Another group suggest site recordings: wind blowing on a microphone in a storm (Class conflict 2) with a high cycling, a wind swept building softly shudders in Shuffle drone and rain over a melody is The ocean inside. Roww has a voice-processed-ish rhythm with rachets and tones and a Tuvan-ishh growl offers Mild alarm with a swirling wind over. The other three tracks - Class conflict, Mild alarm 2 and Revving - are all a bit more edgy with high tones, buzz saws or drones. So again a fine range of styles across this and slightly more available.

To be honest, neither is dramatically diffrent from releases that can be garnered from the web - but these are quality recordings at high fidelity. And worth having.

-Jeremy Keens, 2008
http://ampersandetc.blogspot.com/2008/02/more-mystified.html
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Aural Pressure: “Transient” (Latex, 2005)

Thomas Park - aka Mystified - is a classically and jazz trained musician. His first electronic music venture was in the form of Autocad, an experiment in fractal generated techno. After experiencing some success and recognition with the project, Park continued to produce techno tracks until recently when he began experimenting with dark ambient soundscapes with an industrial influence. Transient comprises of the best tracks from two previous MP3 releases on Dreamland Recordings in 2004 - Transient & Transient 2 - plus a new bonus track and new artwork.

Park describes his music as “industrial ambient” and it soon becomes clear what he means by that phrase. Although it initially sounds deceptively simple, Transient possesses hidden depths. On the face of it, the tracks have warm rhythmic beats sitting over drifting textures but the realisation soon sets in that there is more to Park’s music than just that. Starting gently with ‘Pendulum’, Transient soon starts to expand its scope. The metallic chimes, almost tribal drums and sinister creeping drones hint at what Park means by “industrial ambient”. Often resembling the hypnotic mechanised rhythm of machinery at work and adding swathes of low industrial drone in the background, Park creates an image of heavy industrial toil. ‘Sol Invictus’, for example, portrays relentless grinding wheels and the never ending whir and drone of machinery. Of a more optimistic and urgent tone is ‘Silent Swing’ with its train-like hum and clatter over a dark, ominous air of expectancy. One thing that becomes evident as you listen and digest this album is that the generally quite bright and upbeat theme hides a dark swirling maelstrom of a nightmarish influence. This is never more evident than in the fittingly titled ‘Disembody’ where spectral voices, an ominous mechanical throb and soaring industrial drones combine to warn of a darker more malevolent dimension. Only through Park’s own dub reinterpretations of ‘Sliptide’ and ‘Leakage’ does the warm more upbeat side of his work win through and the sharp rhythmic beats eventually take control.

-PRL, 2005
http://www.auralpressure.com/review/m/mystified_transient.html
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Blastbeats For Freedom– Various Releases

MYSTIFIED - “Iron” CD-R (Turgid Animal)

The semi well known multi-national noise label (UK and Italy), TURGID ANIMAL put this CD-R out in an edition of 21. They have an obscene amount of releases for a 2 year old label. This is their 215th. The packaging left a little to be desired (but what do you expect from a label as ultra-prolific as TURGID ANIMAL?). The “Verbatim” brand CD-R definitely detracts from the overall look of the release (using storebought “branded” CD-Rs is sort of a pet peeve of mine). Fortunately the music more than makes up for the lackluster packaging. MYSTIFIED has been laying down the chill ass creepy noise jams for some time now and this CD doesn’t dissapoint. Contained are 10 song length tracks of haunting sound collages rife with chimes, bells, electronic farts, and looped insect noises throughout. The mixture of analog and digital sound creates an exremely varied, engaging listen that would be perfect as a horror soundtrack. I’m hearing buried tympani and processed field recordings mixed with programmed dissonance and digitized rainfall. There were only 21 of these act fast. It may be too late. This shit is way more ominous/threatening than a lot of the “harsher than thou” noise artists. Wow, I just noticed that I’ve used the word, “harsh” in almost every review I’ve written. I’ll try and cool it a bit from now on.

MYSTIFIED - “Drinking Hot Beer” 3” CD-R (Existential Cloth Recordings)

The cover art for this mini-CD is very colorful and would be quite beautiful if not for the extreme pixelation. The text is virtually unreadable! But again, this is another one where the music makes up for the packaging. This whole thing seems to be made up of lightly processed field recordings, some so untouched and left in their natural state that I find myself hearing certain parts and thinking, “This is supposed to be interesting?” yet for some reason I’m captivated. Sparse drums and accidental(?) melodies make appearances as do running water and traffic noise. I dig it. Seek this out if you like stuff that straddles fine line between “noise music” and random sound.

MYSTIFIED - “Mellow Utility” CD-R (Ambolthue)

Another full-length release from MYSTIFIED. Another 10 relatively short tracks of atmosphere and all around chillaxitude. This one is somewhat similar to the “Iron” CD-R on TURGID ANIMAL but way more relaxed and not as exploratory. “Mellow Utility” is a wonderfully fitting title. Rather than take you forward on an adventure, these tracks seem to hang around in their own fog not moving too much but creating space to float. Painting a picture. This is definitely more meditative than the other two MYSTIFIED releases featured above. Lots of machine-hum ambience and cavernous echo. Totally awesome relaxing ambient music. I think I could put this CD on repeat and go to bed. As a matter of fact I think I’m getting… kind of… … sleeeeepy… … … Zzzz… Zzzz… … … Zzzz.

-Fred Avila of “Blastbeats For Freedom”, 2007
http://blastbeatsforfreedom.blogspot.com/
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Mark Meloche– “Diminished” (Roil Noise, 2006)

Ctephin / Mystified - Diminished
Artist: Ctephin / Mystified
Release: Diminished
Label: Roil Noise Offensive
Year: 2006
Format: CDr
Tracks: 2
TRT: 32:54 / 36:10

A new spilt release dedicated to the infinitely small. Both of these artists have an extensive discography and most of their works are something to behold. To see these two working together is like Legendary Pink Dots meeting Big City Orchestra…wait, that did happen. To sum it up, this is one of the most beautiful ambient splits you will ever hear. This is coming from someone who has heard 100’s of ambient pieces, so take my word for it.

Ctephin plays some tape speed manipulation of drones, a harpsichord, and even a Tibetan singing bowl. This 33 minute piece has it all. I will mention that his wife plays cello and his daughter creates noises with synths, pedals and teenage attitude. Ha! What a family! The track has great fades from one piece to the next and this track does make me think of how small we really are in the big bowl of space. The heavy drones mixed with bells and harpsichord tones showcase my brain into a place we dare look. The dark, deep vast that seems so far away….so small we are to reach it.

Mystified produces are great 36 minute piece with drones and water. This water recording isn’t just him walking up to a beach and hitting record. These water drips echo in and out of this magnificent piece. The track starts off with a terrifying cloud that has broken through my eye’s retina. A horrific drone that cascades with echoed water drips that fade in and out that go splashing about my brain. If you love the old works of DVOA then look no further, this is music for the eyes. And this track has bass too. Shook my damn walls it did!

An excellent split from two growing artists in the ambient field. Something for me to look forward to in the future for sure.

-Mark Meloche, 2006
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Dave x– Various Releases

A whole lotta Mystified reviews, pt.1
I’ve been listening to Thomas Park’s Mystified recordings for over a year now, with his unique takes on ambient and noise peppering many of my broadcasts. Oddly enough, I have yet to review a single one of his discs– the plan was always to do the first few I owned in a small lump, but Mystified’s punishing release schedule (and enormous back catalog) often meant I was listening to more Mystified as soon as I put another down!

Between the fact that I can’t keep myself away from STL’s Apop Records, and Park generously making so many net-releases, what once was a small group of reviews has become an unwieldy archipelago. As you can see, I’ve already had to split it!

Let’s dive right in, okay?

“Think Cosmically, Act Locally” is a double 3? CDR from Roil Noise, and is an excellent place to start for new Mystified listeners as it effectively gathers many of the elements used throughout Mystified’s catalog. “Think Cosmically,” is also a nice starting place because it is less obviously repetitious, a key facet of Park’s work that could easily be misunderstood or under-appreciated in an initial listen. Although ultimately a non-narrative work like most of Park’s outings; the evocative sounds of broken and mis-formed communication, “field recording”-like drain tunnel sounds, and wind noises are tantalizingly simple to begin assembling into something of a story. Like the discs themselves, the tracks also form a kind of dichotomy– more natural elements interspersed with similar sounds heard in a “re-broadcast” or “second-generation” way, like shy aliens eavesdropping on a lonely military installation. A more traditional road might have led listeners to a confrontation between these two groups, but if anything, “Think Cosmically…” puts listeners sympathetically in the aliens’ shoes, content to listen and wait.

“Mellow Utility” is a CDR on Oslo-based Ambolthue Records, Mystified’s second for the label, both released in 2007. This recording isn’t quite as strongly repetitive as some Mystified discs, though the repetitiousness is definitely beginning to set in– particularly with tracks like “Don’t Ask,” featuring down-pitched sirens and restless phase waves. “Mellow Feed,” sounding much like a series of very slow tones blended end-to-end; creates lovely harmonic effects between stereo speakers, sort of a phantom “second voice” in the mix. Where “Mellow Utility” suffers, though, is with it’s identity. After listening to enough of Park’s work, it’s abundantly clear that he’s fascinated with sounds of all sorts– for someone picking up a first Mystified disc, though, Park’s enthusiasm for different sounds may be a bit too scattershot.

“Instability” is Park’s first CDR for Ambolthue, and also from 2007. If any Mystified album could garner a larger response for Mystified, it would have to be this one, and easily the most harsh of the bunch. Sounding like a more aurally-concerned hybrid of The Haters and Muslimgauze, “Instability” features record-needle-dragging noise, distorted city buses (seemingly, a Mystified fave source for some reason), eardrum-piercing tones, and even a little induced nausea for the listener when some of the standing waves start infiltrating the Eustachian tubes with overtones. Listeners should also note Park’s tendency to revisit certain sounds/sources, such as the growing chaotic qualities of “Brannon Construct” versions 1, 2, and 3; all of which appear on the disc. As a side note, Sandy Spreitz’s collage cover art for “Instability” is really cool.

“Iron” is a CDR on Turgid Animal Records, Park’s second for the label since his split CDR with Coco and Fiend Friend, “Hamburger Horizons.” You’ll find “Instability 2? (and 3!) on this disc, as well as “Into Static,” the number 2 version being found on “Mellow Utility.” One of these days, and extra-obsessive fan will do the legwork and draw me a diagram of these sorts of things… Until then, back to reviewing. One interesting thing about re-listening to so much Mystified material at once was realizing that I had started to develop my own internal vocabulary for sorting and describing the discs: “Think Cosmically, Act Locally” was a mix of “indoor” and “outdoor” tracks, with “Mellow Utility” being mostly “outdoor.” If you’re following along much with how I think about these things, you can see how “Iron” would have an “indoor” sound– less focused on sourced-sounds, more attention to pattern, and an increased palette of tone due to processing.

It’s not a hard-and-fast decree– “The Edge of the River (edit)” features very prominent water samples surrounded by a fast-moving miasma of electrical discharge, and “Rubber Cats 2? manages to jar me with a transient “bump” sound that comes out of nowhere and quickly disappears. And really, that’s the most tricky thing about listening to Mystified– superficially, almost every track is a series of looping elements– but when you wade out into them, you hear how what appears to be a loop is actually a collection of sounds undergoing a constant change… much like a swarm of flying insects, recognizable as a group no matter their exact position within it.

“Displaced Assemblage” is a CDR release on Bone Structure, one of three Mystified releases for the label so far. A split with Roto Visage is scheduled to be released later this year. If Mystified has a blues album, “Displaced Assemblage” is it. Aside from the weird side-trip of “Scientific Barrage (dance mix),” and it’s abstract beat, this is a fairly depressing album. “Empty Nest” practically sighs with a soundscape of birds, trains, and quiet desperation. Beautifully pieced-together, it’s a real high point of the album. “Dronefield” follows suit, with drawn-out elements tinged with ennui. Even “Please Remain Calm” seems too worn out by life to really tear the roof off noise-style, and instead settles for a circular scraping sound, like caged bears pawing on concrete. The final track, “Feed and Drone” has the feeling of an enormous being, settling down for sleep. Great stuff! I think it’s a release of 80, so hopefully, it’s not sold out.

“Strange Traffic 1 & 2? is a bizcard CDR on Roil Noise. Clocking in at under 5 minutes, I suppose it’s more of a curiosity than anything, but still sounds pretty damn good. Great mastering delivers a powerful bit of volume for this snack, which seems primarily comprised of road noise– the whine of tires on grooved pavement, truck horns, and the sympathetic hum of highway bridges– processed and blended into ringing tones and noise. Cool!

“Granular Cloud” is a bizcard CDR on Serpent Movement Recordings, and the second in their “Black Plague” series of bizcard releases. Serpent Movement plans to release a Mystified/The Sleeping Room split CDR later this year. This one is a Mystified oddity– what sounds like fragments of disperate Nine Inch Nails track elements are rebroadcast in a strange, un-worked mash. A greater form of repetition holds things together, with serious tension ultimately arising from Park’s steadfast refusal to adopt any song structure initially suggested by the track. With only a release of 10, a little shame should go to Serpent Movement for such poor execution of the cover art– a rather poorly-printed pixel-y image of some sort of Grim Reaper. Hopefully, this sort of thing has since been taken care of, or the design farmed out.

I need a freakin’ Coke, and I don’t have any. That being said, let’s examine the tapes:

“I Died/Mystified” is obviously a split cassette, on the Black and Purple label. It is his first release with the label, with both releases being split C30s. The “I Died” side is terrible, I won’t kid you. I really didn’t like this side at all; it seemed artless and derivative. When it wasn’t mindlessly chugging forward, some voice would pop in and yak for a while in an effected voice. Saying this openly means I can effectively count on never receiving a promo release from Black and Purple, because as I understand it, I Died is also the label owner. However, I am otherwise totally unfamiliar with I Died’s recordings, and am still open to hearing more of his work– if I’m wrong, and you can prove it– do it!

Thankfully, the Mystified side kicks ass, so it wasn’t a waste of my $3. Thank you, Apop, for keeping tapes cheap. There’s an edit of “Rubber Cats” from “Iron,” and “Brannon Construct 4,” which you may remember had three separate versions on “Instability.” A nice proto-bassline pops along in “Holy Smoke,” making for a bit of an unusual, but enjoyable cut. Levels on both sides of the tape are pretty hot, and have decent mastering– it’s noise, so I’m assuming any hum is half-intended/half-equipment.

“Sand of Ages” is Mystified’s other release for Black and Purple, as a split with Ctephin. The mastering of this tape is quite a bit better than the other, with a very clear sound throughout, though with a bit less volume overall. Mystified’s side features a lot more percussion elements, but less of the subtle changes that inform so much of Park’s cuts. It’s almost a bit too straightforward, but enjoyable nonetheless. Ctephin, however, just about rips the top of my head off! Although the tape doesn’t have the hottest levels, Ctephin’s drones simply permeated my home– there was nowhere I could go that I couldn’t hear this roaring cycle of noise– even outdoors, enough shot through my old house that I had to pause and reflect on how effective certain sounds are at getting one’s attention.  As a quick note, classy cover art too!

“Krellmuse” is the last freakin’ thing I’m reviewing today. It’s a C52 from Abandon Ship Records, who have a lot of really nice-looking tapes and CDRs I’d love to have. First person to send me a copy of Bjerga/Iversen’s “Empire of Dirt” wins! “Krellmuse” is kind of like a companion tape to Mystified’s brand new “Planete Interdite” CDR on Roil– but whereas “Fatal Planet” is a reworking/re-imagining of the original “Forbidden Planet” soundtrack, “Krellmuse” attempts to inhabit the collective mind of some of the film’s unseen characters and create something of their music. As the title indicates, this would be the Krell– highly advanced frog-creatures now long extinct. To this effect, Park presents a well-blended fog of mostly-relaxed drone– as a fan of the movie, you have to notice the layer of turmoil under the surface of many portions of the tape, such as “Deep Trouble.” If such underlying tension could destroy the Krell in one night, what could it do here?

Whew! All done for now. In my next installment, look for reviews of: “Balam,” “Planete Interdite,” “Mystified vs. Ghoul Detail,” “Rough vs. Smooth,” ‘Layers & Levels,” “Diminished,” “Spacewater,” and “D-Program.”

-Dave x, 2008
http://home.mchsi.com/~itde/
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Evil Sponge– “Deus Irae” (Dreamland Records, 2003)

Review:    Part of the fun of the Sine Fiction series has been downloading and listening to releases for things i would like to read, if i ever have the time. This book, a tale of a parapalegic cyborg out to paint a portrait of the angry god of a post-nuclear holocaust cult, sounds like the type of thing i enjoy. (In a way, it seems vaguely reminiscent of A Canticle for Liebowitz, by Walter Miller. A great book, by the way.) It also sounds like just the sort of thing that Zelazny (who is most famous for his Amber series) and Dick (who wrote, among other things, works that were the inspirations for Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Minority Report) would dream up together.

The music here is excellent. I cannot speak for the novel, but Mystified really seems to have done a fine job of using ambient electronica to capture mood. The first piece, Tibor and the Ancients is a rumbling ambient interlude. It is a mellow and reflective piece, perfect for the novel’s main character to reflect on those who brought the nuclear holocaust down upon mankind, thus causing his deformities.

The second track moves along at a loping pace, and is appropriately called Tibor Moving. Apparently this describes the portion of the novel where he is travelling about, looking for the angry god, so that he can paint the portrait. It is a well done piece with a constant rhythm and plenty of strange computer noises describing a pleasant, if odd, journey.

The next tune is Recycled T, and i am not immediately sure what this one is about. There is a low rumble as of surf breaking against the shoreline, so maybe Tibor’s journey takes him to the ocean. There is also an eerie bass rumble, and creepy synth tones, so all is not right at this seashore. Still, a nice piece that does well at setting a disconcerting mood.

Future Visionary is a more joyous song. Primal drums clatter beyond long synth drones. This song reminds me, in some small way, of the work of Young American Primitive (always a good comparison) in that it has that same combination of a joyous primal spirit with high tech noodlings. Appropriate given the title, don’t you think?

It logically flows into a pure ambient piece, the lovely Irradiated Air. This is a song of flowing synth tones that often swell into almost violent noise. It continually starts, builds, and fades out. One gets the impression that old Tibor is having a hard time holding onto consciousness in the irradiated air. Nonetheless, this is a lovely ambient track, in which the ebb and flow of sound create an overall relaxing atmosphere.

Finally, the journey ends with Tibor Cycled Out, a title which doesn’t leave me with much hope for a happy ending to this novel. (Then again, happy endings never were P. K. Dick’s style.) This is a ponderous piece of sparse piano and synth hits. Nicely done, and a lovely, if somewhat melancholy, way to end this album.

On the whole, this is an excellent release. Even if it were not associated with a Philip K. Dick and Roger Zelazny novel i would enjoy it tremendously. In fact, i would go so far as to say that this is the highpoint of the Sine Fiction series: high praiase considering how much i have enjoyed the series overall. According to the ID tags in the MP3 files, Mystified is aka Thomas Park. Watch out for these names, mark my words.

Now I need to go get this novel to see how the music pairs up with it.

-Evil Sponge, 2003
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Free Albums Blog– Various Releases

Thomas Park aka Mystified is arguably the best composer / musician working in the field of ambient-industrial electronica. He must certainly be one of the most prolific having his works available on many different netlabels. His discography lists many CDs and online recordings that attest to his talents. His bag of tricks includes field recordings, beat manipulation, drones, and homemade sounds and he always manages to cook up a stunning array of soundscapes. I picked an even dozen recordings, all free, legal and online, that will give you a good representation of Mystified’s world. These are all full albums between 30 minutes to one hour in duration.

Mystified’s work on the Nishi net label may be as good as a place to start as any. Mystical Steam is one of the more accessible, starting with a catchy and almost tuneful “Certainty” then transforming into hypnotic soundscapes involving. among other things, water drops, chimes, and mechanical noises. Dark Lacunae and Hunting Collecting are also good introductions as the tracks include both ambient efforts, drone pieces, and more rhythmic endeavors.

As typical of many of the albums on the Webbed Hand Records, Mystified’s Constant and The Hush are single tracked and meditative. These are long droning works with Mystified at his most minimalist. I also recommend his albums from Webbed Hand’s Rain Series.

Treetrunk has a nice collection of Mystified albums. Cavern of Tile is primarily water sounds: pipes, faucets, sinks, etc. all recorded and manipulated in his apartment. Nocturne is a good example of the use of field recordings. It is an abstract work eschewing rhythm and tone completely. In South City Spring. Mystified uses a mini-disc recorder to pick up apartment sounds and assemble them in odd ways. Audio Paintings is an interpretation of two paintings by Sandy Spreitz representing the four elements. The sounds are mainly taken from apartment noises and short wave radio transmissions.

The Jon7.Net label has two of my favorite releases by Mystified. Puzzle Street is a dark and haunting work best experienced late at night with headphones. Sidewalk Salad is a sonic collage involving the sounds of Parks’ hometown, Saint Louis, Missouri.

Finally, one of Mystified’s latest works appears to be 2007’s Tenuosity but the artist turns them out so fast that will probably not be true by the time of this posting. For us, it is a good place to end because you can see how all of his experimentation on past albums result in this most current effort. This online album has plenty of beats but also drones, manipulated sounds and everything you would expect from Mr. Parks. Mystified is a continuing project of which we will look forward to more awe-inspiring and unpredictable sounds.

-freealbums, 05.02.07 @ 4:39 am
http://freealbums.blogsome.com/2007/05/02/mystified-several-albums
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Wonderful Wooden Reasons, Various Releases

Mystified vs Ghoul Detail - Split

(Roil Noise RNOCDR064)

CDR

It’s taken me an insanely long time to get around to listening to this album as it arrived amidst a flood of other Ghoul Detail releases which I made myself ration out over the course of several months (and there’re more still to come).  Here we find the Northampton based sound abuser paired off against Saint Louis droner Mystified (or Thomas Park to his mum).

Jon (Bayliss - Ghoul Detail) as regular readers of WWR will know is a perennial fave around these parts.  His massive, muscular, heavily tattooed, biker, bounty hunter, chain-smoking, beer swilling, night club doorman type noise drone extravaganzas are a joy to behold and as new releases arrive faster than relatives at a lottery winners house he’s always welcome on my stereo.  This is no exception as he layers slabs of fuzz and grind onto a bedrock of broken bottles, blood and teeth. Excellent stuff.

It’s not often that one of the poor unfortunates twinned with Mr. Bayliss on one of these split releases can really keep up with the musical turmoil he unleashes but Mystified manage it with some aplomb.  Parks’ noise is much less earthy than Bayliss’ growl as his buzzing grind soars and swoops and shakes and shudders like a light aircraft in a hurricane.  Maybe a little too treble heavy for me to be utterly taken but that was easily rectified by sliding the graphic equaliser up.  Recommended.

(www.roilnoise.com)

Mystified - Mellow Utility

(Ambolthue ambolt-19)

CDR

Mystified had previously come to my attention via his split release with Ghoul Detail this is my first experience of him on a full length release.  Mystified deals predominantly in full on grinding noise attack.  His sound palette is taken from the noisier end of the spectrum but he melds and folds and overlaps and attacks these sounds with a very restrained hand.  Sometimes during the course of ‘Mellow Utility’ he may be accused of being a little too restrained in his creations as some of the sheer, uncontained and over-exuberant joie-de-vivre that is often present in the best noise compositions is missing but in it’s place is a set of tightly constructed, concise noise pieces that are both diverting and an interesting ’snapshot’ into what one suspects is truthfully a single part of a work in progress.

(www.ambolthue.com)

Mystified + Rabbit Girls

(Roil Noise RNOCDR063)

2X3″CDR

This split release on American noise label Roil Noise brings together two artists who have appeared in WWR before.  Although when I say together I mean ‘as part of the same release’ not in the collaborative sense or in the sharing a disc sense for that matter as each is on his own separate teeny weeny CD.  Mystified who on previous releases had felt a little too well-mannered - a noise artist you could take home to meet (as opposed to ‘eat’) your mother - kicks things off by being the disc I pulled out first and delivers 4 tracks of churning, sullen noise. In turn utilising grinding noise, processed voices and tones, scraping and blooping beats and finally adulterated field-recordings and buzzing effects.  It’s a strong set with an interesting array of ideas presented in a very limited (and limiting) time-frame, although I did find the choice of text on the second track to be a little cliched.

Rabbit Girls are a much noisier prospect.  Their 4 tracks are considerably louder and more aggressive.  Sounds are thrown about seemingly with abandon, spinning and spiralling before slotting into their appointed place in the grand scheme of the EP.  It’s not all as balls-out as the early tracks would have you believe as there are moments of relief scattered amongst the turmoil that can only add to the unfolding drama.

What is particularly nice about this album is that at no point do you feel the need to contrast the two featured acts. They complement each other very well by being different to each other whilst at the same time being equally as good. 

(www.roilnoise.com)

Mystified - D-program

(Industrial Culture ICR012)

3″ CDR

Mystified has become a staple feature of the WWR playlist over recent months and with each release I like his sounds more and more. His take on the whole noise genre can seem a little too well mannered but equally his is a sound that is always moving - always in flux and in flow. As such it’s always worth a listen.  D-program is a set of stately fuzz-laden drone-works that put me in mind of the recent solo release by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma (of Tarantel), ‘Shining Skull Breath’, it shares that albums love of grime riddled, fast moving drones but Mystified has added a healthy, and welcome, dose of round tonal drones that serve to add variety and extra textures to the whole.  D-program is probably the most interesting thing I’ve heard from Mystified and is definitely worth checking out.

(www.industrialculture.org)

Ctephin & Mystified - Diminished

(Roil Noise RNOCDR041)

CDR

Two long tracks from these WWR regulars both of whom are on top of their game here.  Ctephin take a beautiful disharmonic journey through a galaxy of clashing bell tones, acid trails and cataclysmic event horizons.  It’s probably not a place you could live for long periods but for half hour visits (32 minutes 58 seconds to be precise) it’s a dream destination.  For Mystified it’s the drone that is becoming increasingly central to his work.  Here he breaks up his sedate constructions with recordings of water drops that are maybe a little over-processed for my comfort but they create interesting diversions before the next wave of sound rolls in.

(www.roilnoise.com)

Mystified - A Tribute to Forbidden Planet

(Roil Noise RNOCDR089)

CDR

Mystified has been an almost constant presence in this zine over the last year.  His work is always worth a listen but here he has truly come into his own.  This 23 track homage to the sci fi classic opens up his music nicely and lifts it above and beyond the slightly clinical feel that occasionally crops up on his albums. Using an all electronic template Mystified has kept very much in the spirit of the original Louis & Bebe Barron score and has produced an album that I have been returning to frequently. 

Recommended muchly.

(www.roilnoise.com)

-Ian, 2007, 2008
http://www.wonderfulwoodenreasons.co.uk/
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Geizkragen– “Music For Infants” (Treetrunk Records)

German

Music For Infants von Mystified zum Free-Download

“Music For Infants” heißt die neue Veröffentlichg von Mystified und soll in Gedanken an “small children” entstanden sein - doch ganz bestimmt nicht nur, denn Klänge der Technik dominieren und erfreuen sicher vornehmlich die Großen, die eine Vorliebe für ambiente Geräusch- und Klangkulissen haben.

Die längeren bis zu 30 Minuen langen Tracks zeichnen sich durch einen Minimalismus, Wiederholungen sowie monotone Phasen aus, die sich hervorragend zum Entspannen eignen. Doch trotz fetter 46 Minuten Spieldauer kommt keine Langeweile auf. Ihr könnt Euch die Veröffentlichung gratis bei archive.org herunterladen.

English via Babel Fish

“Music For Infants” is called the new Veroeffentlichg of Mystified and is in thoughts on “small to children” to have developed - nevertheless completely certainly not only, because sounds of the technology to dominate and pleases surely primarily the large ones, which have a preference for ambiente noise and sound window blinds. The longer TRACKS long up to 30 Minuen are characterised by a minimalism, repetitions as well as monotonous phases, which are suitable outstanding for easing. But despite fatter 46 minutes spieldauer does not arise boredom. You can download you the publication free of charge with archive.org.

-Geizkragen, 2007
http://geizkragen.de/magazin/musik-und-film/music-for-infants-von-mystified-zum-free-download/C1189-L45792.html
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Gothgirl– “Demo” (2004)

Mystified, with a penchant for experimental ambience and a background in scoring horror films, is something of an instrumental ambient/ethereal project centered on eerie processed ambient noise/electronics/instruments and repetitive underlying melodic and percussive content. This 40-minute demo is an amalgam of 10 experimental droning soundscapes that form a fairly consistent moody ambient/ethereal work.
Most of the material on this demo album is fairly good, albeit a bit trying at times due to its droning, repetitive nature. It’s the type of music that I could easily see forming a fairly effective backdrop to a survival horror game or horror film of some sort, although attentively listening to 40 minutes of it on CD isn’t necessarily an exceptionally pleasant experience (even for someone like myself who has occasionally written and recorded similar material in the past). Highlights on the disc include the moody ambient “Sliptide”, “Overpass” (which gives a bit of a reprieve from the discs droning ambient material with the inclusion of electronic drums), and the swelling processed sounds and effective fading in and out of “Drifting Fumes”, perhaps the strongest track on the disc. “Leakage” is also a fairly aesthetically interesting track, combining noise/static with keyboards and what sounds like processed violin string scraping. The demo’s two remixes are a mixed bag, however. Droid If Machine’s remix of “Sliptide”, is a fairly weak and odd track that essentially sounds like 3 minutes of chopped up, skipping, random bits of the original track combined with poorly sequenced drum samples (complete with audio clicks and pops) and comes off as more than a bit amateurish. Robin Storey’s remix of “Transit”, on the other hand, is a fairly strong droning ambient remix that fits in well with the rest of the material on the demo.
While Mystified is certainly not a project for those with mainstream ethereal tastes, listeners with more of an appreciation for droning ambience and experimental soundscapes may find their work interesting. It can definitely be a bit trying when listened to in large doses, but the material is ultimately fairly strong and worth checking out despite, perhaps, being better suited to appear in a film or game soundtrack than on an album.
-Joshua Heinrich, 2004
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Heathen Harvest– Various Releases

“‘M’ Tin” (Roil Noise Records, 2007)

The first thing that struck me when I received this release was just how nicely presented this it is, being packaged in a round tin with a label on the top bearing a large M superimposed on what appears to be a magnified pollen particle. Inside you get the two discs secured to each other via a dual hub, an idea I had not seen before, and a little folded piece of card printed with all the relevant details. I was expecting quality things from the music based on the care and thought that had gone into this release and I am glad to say that I wasn’t disappointed.

mystified is the brainchild of Thomas J. Park and he has been prolifically active since 2003, as his discography readily attests, and he has collaborated with Robin Storey of Rapoon and appeared in Spin magazine for his compositional and dj-ing skills. This 2-disc set comprises a retrospective of older work and unreleased material from between the years 2003 and 2006 (naturally titled ‘Retrospective’) and a disc of ten newly recorded pieces from 2007. One of the first aspects of mystified’s music that jumps out at the listener is that Park seems to understand the potential of noise of whatever species to communicate mood and ambience, and that his pieces are very carefully constructed around this idea and he uses his materials to very excellent effect. In fact, I would even go so far as to say that the material speaks to him in some arcane manner and in turn he communicates with them, in an effort to comprehend their very nature and to tease out their fullest potential and in that sense he can be said to be a true artist. The sounds used on here comprise everything from radio-static type noise, treated field recordings, percussion and even a piano, in fact anything that can be used as a weapon in his sonic arsenal.

Park has the ability to weave tales and moods around the titles of his pieces with just the right noise and song structure, for instance, the very first track on Disc one, “Accident Investigator” with its insistent road-drill noise and laboured breathing speaks volumes and brings to mind scenes of emergency services extricating injured people from mangled machinery. “Eerie A”, again on Disc 1, is an alien swamp in the small hours, inhabited by coldly chirping and droning insects and haunted by a banshee malevolence while further along the disc we get “Machine Breath”, giving life to pulse-less circuits and muscle-less iron and steel and spinning motion and presence out of a minimalistic tapestry of sounds. But I have to say that my favourite track on this first disc is “Spider’s Ladder”, the piano refrain instantly conjuring up images of some arachnid dancing up and down a silken thread in a musty old home somewhere, an exquisite little piece that menacingly captures that image absolutely perfectly.

Moving onto the new material on Disc 2, “Suspension”, it’s immediately apparent that Park has lost none of his drive to experiment and evolve his music further. There’s much more of a coldly electronic ambient feel to this one, nevertheless there’s a variety of treatments on display here from tribal glitch (“Aquiver C”) to icy cold alien atmospherics (“Vogue On”; “Suspension”) and yet again from the noise drone engines of “Zogwave 3” to the eerie ghostly insect-ridden ambience of “Moon Bog Edit”; consequently there is more of a unifying thread running through this album than ‘Retrospective”. Park still weaves his sonic magic with a deftness and intelligence that should be a lesson to many an artist out there, that understanding what you’re trying to do and how you use what is at your disposal to achieve it is of vital importance to your art.

This is one of those times that brings home to me why I enjoy what I do so much – that in amongst the dross and muck you eventually find the gem that makes it all worthwhile. Discovering the music of mystified has indeed been one of those exquisitely lucky strikes for me.

-S:M:J63, 2007
http://www.heathenharvest.com/article.php?story=20071214185953120

“Instability” (Ambolthue, 2007)

Having previously reviewed mystified’s ‘M’ two-disc set I was expecting good things of this CD and once again I was not to be disappointed. Thomas J. Park’s expertise in handling and understanding noise and sound were similarly very much in evidence as they were on the ‘M’ release, and his unerring ability to create stories, moods and atmospheres with just a few well-chosen sounds and treatments is as strong and as well-developed as ever.

Parks works with a broad palette, utilising everything from cold icy ambience and environmental sounds, to glitchy rhythms and treated sounds, all carefully pieced together to achieve the right effect, as any artists worth the epithet does. The treatment is often minimalist, but it’s the accumulative effect that brings it all together and imparts the impression of complexity. Swoops, drones, whistles, repetitive rhythmical figures, voices, birdsong, whooshes, and jet engines, in themselves mundane, familiar and unremarkable, when extrapolated from their natural surroundings and contexts, and then treated, transformed, mutilated, stretched, distorted, chopped and changed and finally layered together with sounds not normally associated with them, take on a wholly different meaning, leading us to listen anew. This is Parks’ innate speciality, his sonic wizardry, but unlike the one in Oz this particular wizard doesn’t obfuscate with knavery or trickery – it’s a genuine magical talent.

Take the ‘Brannon Construct’ suite – vast engines and machines defying the human scale, going about their mysterious and autonomous business without reference to mankind. Or the ‘Red Pink and Blue’ twosome, created in conjunction with the UK’s Ghoul Detail, minimalist backgrounds with highlights of even more minimalist drones and burbles overlaid, an impersonal inspection from a cold impersonal electronic gaze. Other highlights: the swirling grating of the title track like some hungry bug waiting to feed on you; the looped glitch beat of ‘Particles’ as atoms like tiny birds gyrate and dance; and finally the quiet ebb and flow of ‘Chirps and Oscillations’, shortwave fluxes set against a tribal rhythm, a broadcast from some far-flung outpost of civilisation.

Once again Parks has woven his magic spell, weaving tales from the warp and weft of the sonic materials at his disposal, and entrancing us with the alien, the weird, the grotesque and the bizarre. This is one story I’ll continue to want to hear again and again.
 
-S:M:J63, 2007
http://www.heathenharvest.com/article.php?story=20071227173756414

“Cobweb Kingdom” (Phage Tapes, 2007)

mystified is an artist that I’ve been enjoying watching develop over the years. The brainchild of Thomas Park, he has been exploring multiple genres including industrial, ambient, and drone, as mystified since 2003. Amongst his prolific back-catalogue mystified has shared releases with artists such as Bonemachine and Ghoul Detail, and had collaboration with Robin Storey of Rapoon fame.

Cobweb Kingdom, taken as a whole, seems to have an air of melancholy to it. The cover art is a photo taken in a cemetary and the music of the tracks on this CDR have something of a sullen tone. The pulsing drone behind album opener Shipwash lulls the listener into an almost hypnagogic state while the other layers of sound penetrate deep into the psyche. The affecting nature of the first track continues throughout the release. Unafraid to a range of compositional skills, this CDR ranges from the ultra-minimal Distant Alarm to the short and sweet ambience of Kind of Purple. Each track on the CDR is skilfully crafted and reflecting of Mr. Park’s growing experience.

Cobweb Kingdom is yet another strong showing from mystified. It could serve as an excellent introduction to this prolific artists work or for Mr Park’s growing fan-base this is a good addition to the collection. Any fans of drone and ambient music will find something to enjoy here. Add in the attractive artwork and the strictly limited nature of this release (ltd edition of 50) and you have a real collector’s piece here.
 
-Prenna, 2008
http://www.heathenharvest.com/article.php?story=20080131110329730

“Mystified Versus Rabbit Girls” (Roil Noise, 2007)

It’s true what they say you know: you spend ages waiting for a bus and then three come along at once. This truism can also be applied to my experiences thus far with the noise outfit known as mystified; prior to my becoming a journalist here at HH I had heard of them but not actually heard them. This 2×3” CDr split with Kansas City’s Rabbit Girls is indeed my third encounter with the sparkling music of Thomas J. Park in about two months and once again his disc is chock-full of his tales of the utterly fantastic and weird, all told with his usual invention, imagination and wit.

However, before I venture any deeper into mystified’s half of the split I shall concentrate on the less familiar (at least to me) Rabbit Girls, an outfit that describe themselves biographically thusly on their MySpace profile: “The Rabbit Girls started sometime in 1995 as an ongoing noise & rhythm project. No other details are available so it’s up to you to decide what it’s all about.” This is what I think they’re about: They inhabit much of the same sonic landscape as mystified, with hints of cyclopean technology and infernal contraptions, but the sound is denser, noisier, less controlled and a great deal grainier. Hints of looped rhythms peep out from amongst the grind and blusteriness, deeply buried in the mix. The story here though is one of devastation, the wilful destruction of our only planetary home by the twin beasts of Mammon and Industry with their constant and insatiable appetites – the machines and wheels must be kept turning and the hunger must be sated. There’s a sense of the overwhelming disregard and unfeeling ruthlessness of both Big Industry (and its concomitant Capitalism) and Big Government (the lackey of the Big Corporation) in their unbridled chase for more fuel for the ever-hungry engines of commerce and manufacture. The relentless grind and despoliation are evident and keenly felt; the juggernaut has been sent on its irrevocable and destructive course.

mystified on the other hand, shine a torch on a different side to technology and science. It’s still the same Big Science, Big Technology and it’s still on the same massive scale encountered on the Rabbit Girl’s disc, but somehow less antagonistic, less intrusive and less malign in intent; certainly compared to the RG contribution it is a lot more benign and less violent. It’s definitely considerably less threatening and has more of an organic feel to it overall. I feel that here the story is maybe more of a symbiotic relationship, that with the help of science and technology, in alliance with nature, our species can build bigger and better, and consequently achieve more and lead healthier lives; or maybe that’s just a specious line of reasoning. But it does seem to be saying that even though technology and science can indeed overwhelm and dwarf us it need not actually intimidate us. Yes there are the machine noises and mechanical beats, a trademark of Park’s work, but there are also more organic and natural sounds taking part as well, like bubbling water for instance (‘Waters Edge’), inhalation, exhalation and voices (‘Beginnings Revealed’) and even a track like ‘And So It Happened’, despite the spastic electronic jerkiness, elaborates something more human and identifiable.

In the end though, it’s all subjective – I just attempt to let the sounds and music trigger a chain-reaction of ideas and images, and then I react to whatever emerges. mystified’s music has a habit of sparking things off immediately on contact, and I can almost feel the neurons firing off like ephemeral constellations of light as I listen – and that’s why I like his work so much. I also liked Rabbit Girls’ efforts too, but in a different, much more primal, way; and the contrast evident between the two acts can’t have done either any harm – if anything quite the opposite. It’s that very contrast that ultimately underlines the strengths of the other’s work and underlines the intent of each. There’s another thing that they say which can be a truism: small is beautiful – in this case they certainly got that right.
 
–S:M:J63, 2008
http://www.heathenharvest.com/article.php?story=20080131040705874
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Larry Johnson– “These Fragments” (Darkwinter Records, 2006)

Thomas Park’s recent foray into the dominion of dark experimental music demonstrates that not only is he a master of beatless dark ambient drones but of melodic and strongly percussive dark electronic music as well. The title track “These Fragments” is a noisy venture into an opaque world of undulating drones thundering above subtle textures of electronics and samples. The aptly named “Deep Chatter” follows with the catchy babble of strong synth and keyboard samples along with heavy sympathetic percussion. “Backwards Remastered” is a cheerless, bluesy sounding piece with distorted guitar, sparse piano samples, and drum programming that give it an almost post-rock feel. With “Efreeti” the emphasis is on an assortment of repetitive percussive sounds. “Byzantine Time Remastered” is a dark, mellow composition with a beautifully simple minor-keyed melody, sad synths, programmed drumming, and brisk, ominous electronics flittering about in the background. What sounds like sound samples played in reverse set above layers of rolling percussion give “Feathered River” a surreal atmosphere. “Vacuum Grains” is a playful, abstract collage of thick drones, curious electronics, and static noise.

-Larry Johnson, 2006
http://www.darkwinter.com
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Byron Kerman– “Vagabond, Pirate” (Self-Released, 2004)

“Mystified’s ‘Vagabond, Pirate’ is a Twilight Zone episode of bleak test patterns, fierce Martian storms, spooky samples, cinematic drama, haunted-house nightmares and ubiquitous background noise brought to the fore. It is the sound of steam-powered android servants clanking after their masters at a post-apocalyptic flea market; of a pulsing reactor core in the bowels of a society so deep underground that the sun is merely a rumor; of a dance club for catatonics in a fugue state; of a futile comedy, in which a Seismograph needle bounces up and down within a weather-warning facility, thousands of years after humanity’s demise.”

-Byron Kerman, Playback Magazine, 2004
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Neo-Zine– Various Releases

This band was formerly known as AutoCad if that rings a bell with anyone out there. They do an experimental industrial ambient electronica that sets the stage for mystery, suspense, and a peer into the unknown. This isn’t so overwhelmingly ambient that it’s inductively dreamy. This works more like a soundtrack, hanging around in the background adding a little something to the environment as a compliment rather than a coercive hypnotic. The subtle difference is that Mystified quietly introduces a quality to the atmosphere and lets it grow naturally from its present surroundings rather than saturating you with something alien. I like what they’ve done. It’s gentle but creepy, subtle but effective.

“Reduced” (Self-Released, 2006)

This is a very nice cerebral massage comprised of soothing dark ambient drones, found sound, unlikely abstracts, and scintillating noises. Everything is pretty much unexpected on this recording. I found myself always wondering what was going to be next. This is more a collage than a body of work with a determined flow of continuity. The pace is also very meandering. This is sort of like a tourists shuffle through a sci-fi exhibit. You go through, take a few minutes with each equally interesting exhibit, before moving on slowly to something relative, but not necessarily following a direct stream of progression. You are free to wander. This CD has a very artistic feel to it. I get an even high-brow feel from it. That may not be intentional. There is also something a little bit dark and sinister in some of these tracks. Others are fresh and clean as running water. There is a lot to drink in, and unless I did this track-for-track, youll just have to read about it in my overarching generalities. Id really suggest listening to, rather than reading about this one.

-Neo-Zine, 2004, 2006
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Pointless Black Records– “Cobweb Kingdom” (Phage Tapes, 2007)

Mystified is one of those projects who have a million releases and because of that, you’ve heard the name tons of times but have never actually heard any of the projects material, though that could be an article all on its own. This disc consists of 10 tracks taking up 50 minutes. The track lengths are mostly around the 5 minute mark with a couple exceptions. It comes packaged in a black plastic case with a photo of a tree slipped into the transparent cover. The disc is silver/silver with noise band aid stick displaying the catalogue number. Mystified’s sound would be called drone. There are a lot of digitally processed static throughout all the tracks while some sort of ambient pads waver in the background.

On the 3rd track, entitled “Dry Water”, the sound of water droplets is added into the mix while the static and distant drones do their thing. The static in most of the tracks sound like they’ve been run through a flanger/chorus or similar effect. Though its not so obvious, you won’t hear any of those air plane sounds that flangers are notorious for. It creates more of constant backing slow and steady rhythm to get lost in and clear your mind. A similar formula is used in the majority of the tracks, the constant static receiving a different treatment. In the first track of this disc, “Shipwash”, the static is backed with a filterish sounding pulse while some super quiet mic work, sounding perhaps like a radio lost in between two stations.

Those static drones don’t appear in every track however, “Kind Of Purple” is one of those tracks. The entire track consisted of a single wavering drone that alternates smoothly between various pitches. The 8th track, “Distant Alarms” is another example. This tracks mostly consists of two sound sources. One being a faint drone/pad oscillating in the background, the 2nd being an unmoving high pitched ringing. At first the ringing is very annoying but over time gains the same result as the static drones did in the other tracks on the disc, a numbing effect that allows you to notice some small changes in something that sounded unchanging at first.

The 2nd last track, “Horizon” perhaps treads a little too close “that flanger sound” not enough to ruin it for me. The track at first sounds pretty unchanging, though after you ears have had a chance to readjust, a deep bass drone can be heard singing in the background. Some of the tracks are almost ambient hash walls if that makes sense. They have much the same effect. The last and title track is one of my favourites on this release. It sticks to the digitally processed static, rising and falling in a steady rhythm, little chips sound here and there, somewhat taking away from the engulfing effect. The track begins to speed up a little, how reverberated flanged static can speed up, I couldn’t tell you, but you feel it. While all this is happening a drone that almost sounds like a car on a race track, going around and around loops, very distant and faint.

A very peaceful soothing release, I could see myself listening to this when going to sleep (not an insult!) because of its encompassing numbing effect on the listener, drowning out all other thought until you are still, lost, and content.

-Jake Vida, 2/15/2008
http://www.pointlessblank.com/reviews/mystfied-cobwebkingdom.html
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Andrew Quitter– “Mellow Utility” (Ambolthue Records, 2007)

Here we have another album from St. Louis artist Thomas Park who has been churning out albums under the Mystified moniker at a very high rate lately. The first track is his typical “looped riff” style, with a continuous loop being put through different stages knob twiddling. The next three tracks are in a more drawn out, droney, melodic style. I really enjoy these type of mystified tracks the best. Track 5 is a barely audible bass hum. Maybe I would have better luck listening to it if it was on my stereo and not my laptop. The next track seems to be digitally manipulated field recordings that sounds like raccoons rummaging through your trash at your new house on mars. Track 7 is a nice heady layered remix of another artist (bco) with the all mighty “waves” that I have been seeking out lately, rolling in and out like high tide. Harmonic Interference is a perfect title for the next track. It sounds like two old rusty machines sharing information that sounds computer static to most, but sounds like a sci-fi adventure to you and me. The next track has an almost throbbing gristle feel to it, with the clunking percussion and whiny synth work. The album ends with vocal samples that slowly fade into nice heavy radio static (one of my favorite sounds). The artwork is simple but works well. I would like to something more creative in these types of releases but that’s just me. Just because the music is mellow doesn’t mean the cover art has to be boring.
All in all this is a very nice release. I think with less loops and more of the thick drones Mystified could really make some amazing albums. A louder mastering job would do wonders as well. This is a very cool cd to listen to while relaxing or reading a good book, but with a few small changes Thomas could be making excellent minimal records that would appeal to a much wider audience.

-Andrew Quitter, Dumpster Score Recordings, 2007
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Gurdonark– “Reduced” (Self-Released, 2006)

When they encounter works of art which show that using new media can lead to new experiences and to new consciousness, and expand our senses, our perception, our intelligence, our sensibility, then they will become interested in this music.—Karlheinz Stockhausen

Field recording dates from almost the invention of phonography. The potential of the new recording technology to permit an experience of and documentation for the reality of sound as it is experienced captured the imagination as soon as the imaginative leap of technology manifested itself. In its earliest uses, its utility as an ethnographic device, to preserve passing cultures and languages, became an accepted science. The use of this technology to “capture” birdsong and wildlife noise became a subtle art and demanding science as soon as the idea turned from conception to reality. A visit to the Yahoo Nature Recordists discussion group impresses one with the seriousness and high purpose of the literal recordist’s task.

In the field of ambient music, however, field recording has served an artistic purpose which long predates the pronouncements of Mr. Eno. The construction of sound collage and the use of morphed sound as a substitute for traditional composition predates musique concrete, but perhaps had its first spring flowering in the musique concrete movement. As contrasted to “abstract music” this musique concrete would use sound samples in service of the musical piece, rather than using the musical piece to define the samples. This was not a new idea, of course, but it marked a departure from an accepted set of western ideas of what music generation “should be to be music.” Movements rose and fell like palpitating beats of peripatetic hearts, but, over time, the idea of using sound as an experience of listening all its own became firmly entrenched in that set of varying genres generically termed “ambient music.”

Field recording, a precursor of ambient music, thus also became its progeny. The formal and somewhat academic music which resulted from the movements of the 1950s and 1960s shared a mutual osmosis with the electronic music arising in the wake of the great steamship known as the affordable synthesizer. Field recording became its own grandpa, as ambient musicians discovered that the world is a sonic sample, if one merely has the invention and recordingware to serve as sampler.

Thomas Park, who records as Mystified, has proven himself a prolific but never omnipresent creator of solid ambient and experimental music. Field recording is part of his repertoire. This is not birdsong or preserved aboriginal music, nor is it the dry formalism of abstract sound collage artists. Instead, in his new album Reduced, Mystified explores the experience of found sound, both as a musical interlink and also as an experience unto itself.

Field-recording-derived works challenge the listener. They urge a departure from the artist/audience, concert hall/applause, and composition/appreciation mode of western music listening. This is not to say that this is an artless “anything goes” medium. Ambient music based on field recording instead is an open invitation to an appreciation of sound itself. If ambient music features any one religious tenet, it is that sound is an interesting listening experience because it is sound, an experience sans story. One can paraphrase the theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who suggested that, in a new era, we must live as if God does not exist—because God compels us to live in this way. Similarly, in field recordings the reader experiences music outside the context of traditonal dervied composition–and yet a trinity of composition informs the reader—a sense of what constitutes music, a sense of the aural context or meaning of the field sounds, and an experience of the creative choices by the artist in sample selection for presentation. The listener lives as if the music were not there—for the sake of musicality itself.

In Reduced, for example, the piece “Cuban Deli” features the voices and noises of a literal Cuban Deli. It’s precisely the type of work that might get an ambient artist the ultimate reward of the lay sobriquet “that’s not music, that’s noise.” Yet the sounds all have a curious musicality about them, imposed from the listener’s preconception, and noises which themselves are not narrative acquire a narrative quality as the voices say words and the machinery gives rise to imaginative visuals. The pieces in Reduced, sixteen in number, vary from literal basic field recording of events of daily living to processed experiences of traditional ambience expressed through the mechanism of field samples. If “Filling the Tub” explores the hidden musicality of ordinary water flowing, pieces like “AM Stumble,” “Dragging Time,” and “Continuum” serve as “concrete” compositions in which the sound samples are welded into a themes recognizable to traditional (i.e., latter-day) ambient listeners.

A truism of this type of review is to write that “patience is rewarded in this type of music.” I am not sure, though, that it is patience so much as the active listening ear that makes this form of music interesting. Unlike the 1970s constructs, this form of “background music” is presented with the very idea of its escaping the background and entering into an active encounter with the listener. Mystified’s work impresses me because it is not laden with “important” (and ultimately cute and somewhat banal) artistic flourishes. These found sounds sometimes serve as unprocessed or lightly processed direct listening experiences, while others sound to my ears very artfully chosen to press into service as something ambient listeners would agree is “music” not “stray environmental noise.” One gauge of the success of this type of music is the diversion factor—can the pieces hold the interest of the attentive listener. In the main, the pieces pass this test. The best either feature nearly “pure” field recording of noises or machinery or rather processed use of field sound to create more traditional “ambient music.” Those at neither extreme, and in particular those based on human voice recording, do not work so well for this listener.

Reduced can be readily recommended, however, as it suffers from neither affectation nor pretension. The pieces, simply titled, literally “are what they are.” They reward the engaged listener, and baffle the listener hunting for easy drones and titles based on fantasy novels. As with any field recording, the casual listener may, indeed, be mystified. But Thomas Park, who records as Mystified, engages the listener with experiences which, while not new, are freshly presented. Reduced plumbs the waterways of pure sound—and the intrepid sailor may wish to join Mr. Park in filling this particular bathtub of sound.

-Gurdonark, 2006
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Smother– Various Releases

“Double EP” (Latex Records, 2005)

Dark ambient outfit Mystified is mystifying in both their technique and ultimately their production’s delivery. His music is odd and angular often existing in a seminal and primal state of being floating high on clouds above. Ambient music hasn’t been this intriguing in quite some time. Both parts of the EP are equally engaging creating an atmosphere that’s strange and a hybrid of what we’ve come to expect from dark ambient musicians.

“Reduced” (Self-Released, 2006)

St. Louis native Thomas Park is Mystified and he presents us with a very special record. Experimental ambient music that combines field recordings and phonography that crawls deep under your skin causing itches that are impossible to scratch away. Eerie textures are blended well with production that is top notch. . . Ambient music often finds itself with yawning audiences who yearn for something to latch onto, “Reduced” however is the polar opposite. Surprisingly engaging for an occasionally dark ambient field recording album, “Reduced” is an absolute must-have. Noise enthusiasts: you do NOT want to miss this album.

-Smother ‘zine, 2005, 2006
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Vital Weekly– Various Releases

MYSTIFIED - INSTABILITY (CDR by Ambolthue)
MYSTIFIED/ORIGAMI STATIKA - WRATH OF GAWD/QUALITY BONES (CDR by Krakilsk)

Despite the fact that Mystified has a website, we don’t learn much about the band, except that they released quite a lot of material, and that one of their releases has a remix by Robin Storey, a.k.a. Rapoon. I think I wish I didn’t know this. The simple reason is that I was already thinking that Mystified sounded a bit like Rapoon, but even more like the old Zoviet*France, the area when Storey was still a member. But perhaps now everyone thinks I made this up after reading about the remix. Well, either way, I was and still am a big fan of the old zoviet*france stuff, and especially their longer works, I think Mystified with their somewhat shorter approach, leaps the big gap that has been there for many years now, quite nicely. Rough, sketch like, psychedelic, partly rhythmic (more techno than ethno), this is quite a nice release, stirring good memories and offering new ones.
More Mystified can be found on a split CDR with Origami Statika, which here is Swamps Up Nostrils and Resin. It starts out with two nice pieces of heavy layered guitar sounds, but in ‘Yahwehs Revenge’ it’s all out noise, which is a pity. So more Sunn O))) like excursions would have been nicer. The best piece is the next one ‘Sunday Jam’, an excursion into highly controlled feedback, which slowly falls apart. Perhaps a bit long. Then we get nine short pieces by Mystified, which seems to find their sources in treating acoustic objects. They are looped around to create small particle like sounds, densely shaped and quite organic. Here the zoviet*france is gone, and they go along the paths of Jeph Jerman and Kapotte Muziek, although Mystified uses more electronics to treat the sounds. Occasionally the leap into a rhythm and that sets them apart from the more musique concrete oriented counter parts.

MYSTIFIED - SOOTHGRAINS (CDR by Dim Records)

The Netherlands’ smallest label, perhaps, is Dim Records, run by our Steffan de Turck, otherwise known as Staplerfahrer. His releases have a deliberate low level look and come in editions that is usually not more than two handfuls. Mystified have been greeted before in these pages, and on their new release they extend their blend of sampling even further. They seem to be doing all: techno rhythms, ambient and noise. Everything is thrown in that sampler of theirs and things groove around - well, of course not in a way that will make your feet move, but in a way that will make your feet tap or your head nod. Head nod music was a category some sort distributor once used to lump this kind of music in and indeed Mystified are head nodders. I can even imagine them making a nice 12″ of alternative dance beats some day. The first signs of that have arrived.

MYSTIFIED - MELLOW UTILITY (CDR by Ambolthue)

More from Mystified, who are a mysterious lot (or just one, who knows), who are getting more and more busy with new releases. Here is another one on Norway’s Ambolthue label. It’s always a bit hard to say when stuff was recorded and how new releases should be placed on a time line of development, but this new Mystified moves (unfortunately) away from the previous proto techno rhythms and stays along the ambient industrial lines of the releases that I heard which came earlier. Minimal soundscapes, built around samples and synthesizers, with throughout not much development, but which are throughout very pleasant to hear. Nothing exciting new, but certainly well entertaining, this more noisy version of Zoviet*France, but it would be nice to see them explore the techno side a bit more.

MYSTIFIED - LOWER (CDR by Krakilisk)

From Mystified we have reviewed several releases,
and most likely there is much more we don’t know about. It’s an one man project of one Thomas Park. The title seems to me the programm of the CD: lower as in the lower regions of the tonal spectrum. The CDR opens up with a bunch quite similar pieces of dark ambient - the lower spectrum made audible with field recordings and/or synthesizers, albeit of a digital nature. But there is more to that. There is also a piece which evolves around a bass drum, which is quite nice (I remember thinking that Mystified should explore the rhythm road more) and some that are slightly more experimental. Maybe it’s a bit too conceptual this one and one could wish for some more high end tones, and that those should not be on the next release called ‘Higher’.

MYSTIFIED - D-PROGRAM (3″CDR by Industrial Culture Records)

The new Industrial Culture Records label releases all sorts of experimental and industrial music, and the noise part went to Jliat and the ’softer’ (ambient, drone) side landed on my desk. The omnipresent Mystified, also know as Thomas Park, selected (2007 !!) discography counts twenty titles, and that doesn’t include the ‘Lower’ release, reviewed a week ago. Eat your heart out, Merzbow. The four pieces on ‘D-Program’ are all to be found on the lower, drone ambient side of the musical spectrum. Machines humming, field recordings or pitched down samples: whatever the input may be Mystified delivers some fine work in a known modus operandi. The rhythmic aspects of his work, which was detected some time ago, is entirely gone here, which is a pity, since that proved, I think, a possible way out of the somewhat dead alley of ambient drones.

MYSTIFIED - UNCANNY (Cassette by Heavy Nature Tapes)

Mystified is a name that popped up before in these pages with their curious mix of low resolution samples and electronics. Sometimes they play a more rhythmic card - although not enough in my opinion - and sometimes moody textured music. Here the latter plays the main role. The tracks are alright, nothing new here for Mystified, although a bit more variation would have been nice. (FdW)

– Franz de Waard, 2007, 2008
http://www.vitalweekly.net/
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Sothzine– “Waves And Secrets” (Benekkea, 2006)

Waves of sounds flow through your ears, dark as a night can be. And secrets between them, mystifying the tree ? : ). Waves & secrets reminds of the most ambient works of Death in june and The moon lay hidden beneath a cloud, it comes in the same spirit. Nocticula and Mystified collaborated for producing this album, which is very intersting in the sense that it carries a lot of sentiments that will make you turn these sounds into images. Their sound seems like emerging from lost times, a past darkened epoch of sadness when people wasn’t that happy : ).

-Sothzine, 2006

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Five Broadcast-Based MP3s from Thomas (Mystified) Park
 
http://disquiet.com/2008/06/30/five-broadcast-based-mp3s-from-thomas-mystified-park/

There’s no didgeridoo on the five-track album Altered Signals by Mystified (aka Thomas Park), but there may as well be. Much of the music heard here has the slow, otherworldly onomatopoeia of that aboriginal device. The collection opens with the title cut: the crackle of data, the ping of noises echoing in a long, narrow chamber. Then comes “Bell Cloud,” which is all industrial chatter. In “Vocal Tremors” you can hear the deeply submerged speaking amid the crumpled metal. “Octavepus” is a heavenly drone, a kind of android Tuvan singing. And “Science of Change” is like some unimaginably large prayer bowl, its resonance echoing at an extravagantly sedate pace into the distance. According to the set’s release notes, much of the source material originated in some form of broadcast, suggesting there was already some aural decay at work before Park got his hands on the elements from which Altered Signals was built. More info at the website of the releasing netlabel, darkwinter.com, and at Mystified/Park’s mystifiedmusic.com.

– Marc Weidenbaum, Jun. 30th, 2008
http://www.disquiet.com

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Fuktmp3 Blog– “Altered Signals”

Thomas Park is an American from Saint Louis, Missouri, very connected to the obscure music in her most beautiful form: Dark ambient. Not just this: Thomas is  very connected to other sub-genres too, like noise and drone, and frequently is found listening to new bands or artists, and motivating another people (like me, for example) to try to create music like this. I confess that i didn’t have faith on the beggining, but I tried an now I’m learning how to create such sounds.
Mystified is his main project. First, I feel forced to talk about an attitude of Thomas and the label Dark Winter, wich are releasing albums like major labels (with covers and everything else), but also let them all free to download, even in the label’s site. This is a respectable and admirable attitude, that should be followed by other people. Altered Signals is the most recent album, released a few months ago. Incredible how we can percept different musics with similar structures. “Altered Signals” is full of strange and recurring sounds, something like a rain of iron without heaviness (?!?!), with a heavy and dark atmosphere behind. “Bell Cloud” stay on the same way, but not so tense, and mixing dark with relaxing atmospheres at the same time. If I believe in aliens, I could say that the voices on “Vocal Tremors” belong to them. “Octavepus” is distressing! Try to imagine someone running in slow motion. Get it? Transform this to audio! The slow atmosphere that becomes slowly fast gives a feeling of anguish, but nothing like face her! And now, the big moment! More than a half-hour in “Science of Change” can make you sleep or reflect, in an incredible slowly progression. If you have a good ear, surely will perfectly understand this!

– Julio, Jul. 14, 2008
http://fuktmp3.blogspot.com/2008/07/mystified-altered-signals.html

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