In Ambarchi’s latest contribution to his already impressive discography of sonic experiments, he takes a practice already long employed by such people as Thurston Moore and applies a small whirring motor to two instruments. The first piece finds Ambarchi doing battle with and exploring the tones from an ordinary cymbal, and the results vary from quiet, soothing drones all the way to an industrial drilling that borders on painful at points. The second piece is where the concept for Stacte Motors truly delivers on its premise. Taking the motor to an acoustic guitar, Ambarchi gets textures that wouldn’t be out of place on a Japanese noise record, but still remain comfortable and accessible to fans of early shoegaze and space rock improvisations. On the whole, it’s not Ambarchi’s strongest nor his signature work — but it’s mighty impressive and devotees will no doubt want to add this to their collections. – Rob Theakston
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