KÖök: Imber, Wiltshire

Tom Waits sung (spoke) the following lyrics on his Mule Variations (Epitaph, 1999) LP, "What's he building in there?/What the hell is he building In there?/He has subscriptions to those magazines.../He never waves when he goes by/He's hiding something from the rest of us.../He's all to himself.../I think I know why..."

But, of course he has no idea.

Neither do Norwegian guitarists Stian Larsen and Jørn Erik Ahlsen, the protagonists from the electronics duo KÖök. Their improvised performance Imber, Wiltshire explores the abandoned city in the UK through dream-filled drones and haunting vacuity. The story of Imber dates back to 1943, when the citizens evacuated their homes and businesses after the British announced the town would be used for combat training. Although the city was never used for training, its citizens never returned.

Their "soundtrack" to this unmade city is a dark ambient travelogue through the whispered sounds of a ghost town. Bassist Guro Skumsnes Moe and drummer Erik Knedal Andersen guest on three tracks. Barely a whisper, then the metallic singe of circuits and vibrations of metal strings. Larsen and Ahlsen's guitars feign a field recording. One that is not apparent from a fly-over. These are the micro-sounds of the uninhabited. The roar that can only be heard by the rodent and bird inhabitants of Imber.