It becomes apparent early on that Statistical Truth, the latest album from mysterious minimalist synthesist K. Leimer, isn't merely another 67 minutes of mindless ambient soundscapes. "Unusable Spectrum" and "Anterior" deploy worldly electronic percussion, for example, while the mournful sounds of "Requiem Fields" sing just as effectively as any female vocalist could. Even "Divided Light" resonates, with a coda of squeaky atonal whistles that recall a young child just discovering the sounds, and Statistical Truth's centerpiece, the 11-minute title track, signals its importance with a series of early crescendos that give way to a repeated series of electronic blips. "Four Pages From An Unfinished Novel," which revisits a piece by the same name from Leimer's Closed System Potentials, begins with simple piano notes over ambient soundscapes before segueing to a piano solo. It is performances such as these that make Statistical Truth such a joy to hear and occasionally elevates Leimer to the level of Brian Eno, Robert Fripp and Klaus Schulze. On the other hand, it is drab, lifeless tracks such as the opener "Dark Form," "Interior" and the bizarrely titled "Distribution and Status of Small Green Birds" that drag the record down. Generally speaking, though, the album's alternate dark and light textures, heaviness and airiness, and overall warm and cold passages make Statistical Truth a compelling and memorable listening experience in a genre often associated with faceless, aimless background sounds.
That said, the fragile digipak and simple cover illustration of a shirtless man with large nipples do nothing for me…
Track Listing:
1) Dark Form
2) Unusable Spectrum
3) Intrerior
4) Four Pages From An Unfinished Novel
5) Divided Light
6) Statistical Truth
7) Requiem Fields
8) Distribution and Status of Small Green Birds
9) Anterior
10) Usable Spectrum
11) Pale Form
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