0ºC

Ryoji Ikeda is more of a sound sculptor than a musician per se; his works often explore micro-sounds, extreme high frequencies, and incredibly precise digital chopping and slicing of samples. This 1998 album contains two medium-length suites: the eight-segment “C” and the three movements of “0°.” “C” is remarkably aggressive for Ikeda at times, but the volume is always kept low; he’s not interested in bludgeoning the listener with sound. Instead, he’s presenting sound as a kind of challenge, demonstrating its possibilities. You hear sonar pings, telegraph clatter, string stabs, brief passages of machine-gun drum ’n’ bass rhythm and sudden bursts of sharp noise, but you also hear a calming heartbeat and a soft electronic tone bouncing gently from left to right in the stereo field. “0°” is slightly more subtle, anchored at first by a low bass throb like an 808 kick slowed down to 10% speed. Eventually it speeds up, but stays just as low and implacably persistent as ticks and test tones appear and disappear around it.