- If you're a Texan tape-swapper with techno and ambient tastes, then you'll probably know about Bill Converse. Everyone else will likely start with his debut album on Dark Entries, Meditations/Industry, and work their way backwards. You could start by tuning into Timelife Methrave's "Tunnel Dive" show every Sunday and Tuesday on Intergalactic FM, and then there's last year's L.I.E.S. podcast. After that, you should be primed for this subversive acid-techno excursion.
Originally an obscure, 100-copy release from cassette/VHS label Obsolete Future (the guys behind "Tunnel Dive"), Dark Entries' edition of Meditations/Industry has been trimmed down from 11 tracks to seven. Somehow, without even hearing them, those four extra tracks seem eerily absent. Put another way, there isn't enough of Meditations/Industry, leaving you hungry for more. To be sure, this is a good thing, especially for an artist who seems so tantalisingly out of reach.
Meditations/Industry was assembled from straight-to-tape recordings made at Converse's home studio, and there's something very much at ease about it all. Considering it was written over a year-long period, the album glides from track to track with impressive fluidity. It's a graceful and tranquil listen, with most of the compositions sounding like they're in some heavy-lidded zen repose. You don't need to engage too deeply with it; it can work just as well gurgling and bubbling in the background.
The music maintains a bright upwards gaze, though tracks like "Phantom Pain," "Between Electrons" and "30.26367, -97.77082" offer variation with their darker acid musings. Ultimately, it's Meditations/Industry's dreamy effervescence—captured best in the title track, "Inward Fathoms" and the stellar "Sea Bering"—that hooks you into Converse's world, one so cushy and warm that you'll be in no hurry to leave. Meditations/Industry is a seductive opening gambit from an artist worth keeping tabs on.
Tracklist01. Inward Fathoms
02. Sea Bering
03. Phantom Pain
04. Between Electrons
05. Meditations/Industry
06. In Love/With Light
07. 30.26367, 97.77082