Katherine Young utilizes the less than obvious bassoon in these seven electro-acoustic compositions. Not knowing much about the bassoon, I’ve discovered that it is a double reed instrument, which seems a pretty good fit for the large range of electro-acoustic atmosphere. Young gets a full bodied sound out of her instrument, from low register rumblings close to a bass clarinet to high pitched squeals best heard from the use of balloons.

“Patricia Highsmith” takes a long while to get rolling, but once Young starts to mess with the build up of loops and layers, it finally gets weird enough for me. “Elevation” uses a slight percussive thumping at irregular intervals (possibly the thumping of the keys?) to drive the track so squalls of horn can go off. That same percussive thump returns to “For Autonauts, For Travelers”, the longest piece on the disc. Much more moody and spare than the previous tracks, Young gets into a gnarly lower register and really works the hell out of it. The thumping portion tends to distract after a while and I really wished it had gone away.

The thumping sound is still pretty prominent throughout the following track too and has completely worn out it’s welcome. “Some People Say That She Doesn’t Exist” is a nice change of chamber music, short and sweet and showcasing Young’s excellent use of the double reed. Until another thumping sound starts to take prominence towards the end. At this point, I realize I’m starting to repeat myself, but so is that treatment. Young shows that she has some excellent use of her instrument, but the electro part of the compositions could use some variety. 6/10 -- Andrew Murdock Livingston (4 November, 2009)