Plasma on Last Sigh (1998), English



BAD SECTOR "PLASMA"

From the very opening electric sparks of Plasma, the listener is plunged deep into the heart
of a hermetic world of flickering and breathing synthetica.
This is the second full-length release from the Italian one-man project Bad Sector, and it is
easily one of the most compelling and captivating creations of pure electronic music
to come out this or any other year. Once "plugged in" -- so to speak -- the magnetic sound quality
of this CD never loosens its grip on the listener, and one can only lean forward and be carried
along with the all enveloping arrangements, until the final pulsing heart beat of "Periods" breaks
the spell, and returns the listener to the mundane room presence of reality.

Massimo Magrini (Bad Sector) is clearly intensely fascinated by the science and sounds
of electronic phenomena, and the instruments created by man to temper and tame it. In fact, many
of the sounds incorporated into the nine tracks on this CD stem from such sources as VLF
magnetosphere recordings, short wave scanning and reception, neon tubes radio signals and
high voltage transformer recordings. These wheezing, seething, spitting and grating recordings have
been seamlessly weaved into the harmonious droning sonic streams of the compositions on Plasma,
to create an immensely full and charged final sound image.

Listening to this music is to tune the ears to the workings and whisperings of the universe itself.
Bad Sector's music is extremely rich and grandiose; buzzing with a million minute details, as if each
little click and electric tick was the aural trace of an atom or molecule across the velvet background
atmospheres that hold it all together.
At times the sonic currents carry with them human voices -- decayed electronically transmitted signals,
plagued by static interference; impressions of the human struggle to grasp and impose its will on
the mysterious and unconquerable energies of nature.

The excellent cover art of Plasma depicts monochromatic photographs from the collections
of the MIT Museum in Boston and the Nikola Tesla Museum in Belgrade.
The photographs, like the music, at once pay homage to, and reveal the clumsiness of, the human aspirations
to control electricity. These are images of gigantic solid steel structures that stand motionless,
while lightning flashes from their cold surfaces to the ground beneath in forked patterns that are wholly
unpredictable.

Plasma has been released by the Italian label Old Europa Cafe in only 747 copies.
It is simply a fantastic CD -- for anyone who likes the stark and severe variety of electronically
generated music, this CD simply should not be missed.



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