Wednesday 5th October   So a CD review then. A way out by
knowing smile is the charming title given to a new duo release
credited to The Imaginary Soundscapes, who are Frederic Nogray,
a new name to me, and Stephane Rives, the soprano saxophonist.
For this disc however, Rives works with “samples from his
discography mixed with recordings from his daily life and sound
environment” while Nogray utilises feedback created with three
effects pedals. There are two tracks, one titled Low and the
other High, and both consist of droning structures of extended
sounds, mostly electronic in feel. The liner notes call the
music “a trip in two parts”, and this, coupled with Nogray’s
description of his sound as somewhere between minimalism and
psychedelia and the duo’s group moniker do tend to lend a bit of
a new age feel to proceedings, but mostly the music has enough
menace and edge to it to keep away from the blander end of music
attached to such a set of reference points.  As the titles
suggest, the first track here fea