‘Transmit’ is a collaboration project between Werner Hasler and Sunao Inami. Making this collaboration rather interesting is the fact that the two live in different continents- one in Bern, Switzerland, the other in Kobe, Japan.
The two met in a club, for only a short time, and agreed to share some of their work. While these sort of virtual collaborations are becoming somewhat more common these days, I am still fascinated by the idea of such long distance exchanges. However, given the disconnect between the performers/artists, the results of this mode of work are not always as fascinating. This is certainly not the case with Hasler and Inami however; their results are well worth their long-distance efforts.
Taken as a whole, the atmosphere of the album is somewhat relaxed. For the most part the material might be considered ambient. However, ‘Transmit’ is not only atmospherics, nor is it entirely mellow either, for that matter. There is also a quite a heavy dose of electronica action coming through rhythm/drums and melody (as with the songs “Boomed 23rd” and “Dasong ab”, for example). With these tracks, Hasler’s trumpet recordings are often featured. The trumpet recordings are a sure highlight of ‘Transmit’, and fit very well with the Inami’s electronic/synthetic atmospheres, which are equally entrancing.
One of the most interesting tracks from this collaboration is “Pancake”, which transitions slowly from calm ambience into a more upbeat kick-snare combination, and then tapers off into cool ambience once again. The songs from the album keep a rather steady mood/vibe going throughout, which in my opinion is a definite strong point with ambient-type material.
‘Transmit’ is by far one of the better ambient-electronic albums I’ve heard in some time. It would be nice if these two bumped into each other again sometime in the future.
