Originally released in 2001 via an obscure German label, About 8 Minutes (Or More) was a collaboration between Peter Gill (Frankie Goes To Hollywood), and Paul Fishman (ReFlex), under the guise of Ltd. Noise. While the duo’s background might imply a pop album, About Eight Minutes (Or More) is an electronic / experimental jazz hybrid, as refreshingly unique as it is unexpected, and it has been remastered for a whole new audience, with a bonus track thrown in to entice existing fans.
Having once decided to create a piece of music that completely broke with their past, Ltd. Noise really dove off the deep end. Working with vintage synthesizers (most notably the EMS VCS3) and influenced by a rekindled love of jazz (Fishman found himself revisiting Stockhausen, Edgar Varese, and Miles Davis), they treated the tape much as an artist treats a blank canvas, with the only self-imposed limitation being that each composition land at around the eight-minute mark (hence the name).
The duo offer little to ease the listener in. The album opens with the Aphex-y squelch of Niagara, all scattershot rhythms and dreamy ambience. If Paul Fishman was indeed listening to Miles Davis, you’d have to guess that Bitches Brew was high on the list. Meanwhile, elements of Orbital and The Orb also exist within the track’s DNA, and it’s hard to believe this brilliantly diverse piece of music has languished out of sight for so long. Displaying a whimsical penchant for naming conventions, Ltd. Noise serve up Monkey Turbulence next. Opening on a weird, cyclical sample that recalls an LP trapped in the runout groove, it slowly takes shape, as a loping, trip hop beat emerges to drive it in a funkier direction. Things get tougher with Celery, which sees a dirty beat driving airy keyboard stabs. You can imagine this providing the perfect soundtrack to some bohemian coffee shop – incense hanging heavy in the air and tattered copies of literary works scattered around the ad hoc furniture – and it builds nicely over the course of its run time. The harder edge continues over into Junk, which recalls the darker elements of Depeche Mode circa Ultra, all distorted drums and swirly synth noise. The first half of this eclectic little devil spins to a halt with C.E.4.J., a very different piece that places the jazz elements to the fore, resulting in a track that offers up hints of David Lynch’s soundtrack work for Twin Peaks.
Providing the gateway for the second half of the album, the haunting trumpets of Entropy exist in a pulsing synth soup, that expands into a beautifully evocative piece that takes the listener on a mental journey into the unknown. In contrast, the twitchy atmospherics of The Head Elephants paves the way for a piece that exists more in the dub realm, the percussion echoing around and anchored by a tightly wound bassline. One of the most addictive pieces on an endlessly beguiling set, if you were to listen to just one piece of Ltd. Noise, this should be it. It’s followed by the album’s shortest and most direct track – Hog. Based on a hard-edged, industrial beat that stabs through the mix, the robotic Hog could easily slip onto one of the darker Orbital albums, although jazzy guitar stabs remain. The original album’s final piece, Mutton Jazz exists in a realm where Unkle and Apollo 440 vie for attention in a neon-lit, post-jazz night club, bring the record to a suitable enigmatic close.
For this reissue, Ltd. Noise prepared a bonus track. Titled The New Testament, it’s a lengthy piece, shot through with samples, and casting a nod towards the harder-edged cuts on Leftfield’s Rhythm & Stealth. While it’s a fantastic extra, it’s easy to see why it was left off the parent album, as it is the only piece not tethered to jazz, at least to a basic level, although it offers further insight into the band’s taste in electronica.
Electronic music, at its best, is informed by all that went before, from jazz and blues to metal and hip hop. With About Eight Minutes (Or More), Ltd. Noise show a remarkable aptitude for drawing from a range of styles and genres to carve out pieces that would not feel out of place alongside the likes of Orbital, The Orb, Leftfield, and Unkle – excellent company to keep. If you like albums which allow you to drift, unfettered, for an hour or so, then the beautifully played and produced About Eight Minutes (Or More) should be an essential addition to your collection. 9.5/10
