After the release of two highly sought-after limited-edition vinyl pieces (Schoner Flussengel and Antithesis) on the Kranky imprint and the fantastic collaborative release on Carpark with Greg Davis, Keith Fullerton Whitman returns to more widely available solo endeavors, offering up an eight-song sonic assault on the ears recorded during his tenure as lecturer at Harvard University. Multiples fuses the beautiful drones of Playthroughs with the mash-ups, glitches, and sonic assaults of his previous works into one beautiful cohesive work. Although Multiples is at times grating and abrasive (see Whitman’s work on the Serge Modular Prototype synth), Whitman tempers the urge to pack as much punch into one wave file as humanly possible by also exploring quiet, more minimal textures. His work on the Yamaha Disklavier Prototype would feel right at home on a La Monte Young or Steve Reich recording. Multiples also shows Whitman to be as adept and comfortable in creating amazing textures with analog instruments as he is in using the latest in digital sound design, making it seem like an eight-song cycle paying homage to the analog forefathers while pushing the envelope for his contemporaries. Whitman’s not only far ahead of the rest of the electronic world, he is paving the roads that others will soon be traveling upon. – Rob Theakston