I really like this disc.  I'll definately play it out when I DJ downtempo or ambient sets.  The first track is really nice in a loop for an ambient set.  I really love track 2 (the first song.) I remember hearing it at Saturnalia.  It put me in a good space.  I'd love to hear more like this.
The second is a nice spacey song.  The kind I could listen to and my eyes just kind of glaze over.  Everything sounds slowed down and affects me that way, slows me down... well at least the piano and vocals do. Love the crazy bridge between the 2nd and 3rd songs, nice abstract samples.  Those will definately f**k with any trippers.  I love it!  The final song - another great track. It just rides along in the background as I do my work.  I keep having to listen to it over and over in order to pay attention, which is good.  And the poem ending - a wonderful goodbye.  Love this disc and it's still part of what I bring with me for downtempo sets - it's an unknown gem that at least one person always asks about when I play it!
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I was led to this cd through Art-O-Mat. Enticed by a promise of a cd in a box, I deposited my token. That was the first of 3 'Music for Seances' treasures I've aquired...I'm happy 'The Mystifying Oracle' was out there for me.
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A new side project by at least one member of the anonymous ambient duo Austere (credits are listed for William Fuld, Elijah J. Bond and J. Simmons), this CDEP (an aside, who came up with calling a shorter LP or CD "extended play") is three slow-moving, trippy trip-hop styled downtempo tracks that stradle a number of genres while never extending too far into any one, each separated by untitled pieces that oddly bind all the tracks into a whole.  The first is a beatless, ambient guitar introduction to the first real track, "sagacious gibber", which slowly builds up to a booming beat and bass punctuated by strange sounds and complex, almost "tribal" sounding conga percussion work.  It is much like a Seefeel track played at 33 instead of 45, with strange and glistening sounds intertwined through the piece, should Seefeel have ever gotten into truly complicated percussion.

Another untitled piece seems to channel transmissions from outer space to keep the continuity into the second track, "effervescence", taking the listener off in another direction.  A partial "cover" inspired by the lyrics of the jazz standard "You Go To My Head", dreamy, sultry vocals carry a track that again starts slowly and develops into a percussive, quirky ride full of distant sounding sad piano and lots of odd little sounds that make brief appearances, almost like strange tiny animals poking their heads up out of their holes and quickly shirking back.  All this plays over wide ambient washes that sweep back and forth with chimes and bells also pealing in the background.  A meloncholy track that manages not to become overbearing due to the wonderful odd bits that pop up through the track.  Again, something like trip-hop, but then again, as far from Massive Attack et. al. as one might get.

Another break, this time an odd sample that's more and more interesting each time one hears it, and then the third track, an instrumental called "laggard's swag", the most minimal of the three but styled very similarly to the first song.  The combo of rummy snares and staggering cymbals are finally grounded by a solid kick drum and build the foundation over which more droning, ambient pads and unusual sounds such as percussive vocal samples and more chimes and bells take the listener on a meandering journey for the duration.

The album closes out with a quote that sounds like Walt Witman but spoken by an old, sage voice that might be channeled from the next world, leaving the listener some place different than where they started but no closer to a conclusion than a beginning.

This EP is somewhat maddening in its ability to refuse to play by the rules of most music conventions and genres, and seems to walk to its own beat and is ruled by its own laws, rather than to be constrained by convention.  Given the repuation that the band Austere has for following their own personal, unique muse with no regard for commercial accessiblity nor really any intent to make it "easy" for their audience, those that give this relatively unknown gem a chance will be rewarded by surrendering themselves to it and letting it take them to new and different places, something that's harder and harder to find and do in our modern time.  And for that, The Mystifying Oracle has become my able and willing guide, and I thank them for it.  Wayne Dolman, 4/2003.
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In these days of MTV-fueled, mass media consumption of popular "musicians", it is rare to find artists that create for the sake of their art rather than for that of their wallets or their popularity. Face time and recognition seem more important than quiet quality. Conversely, a good deal of the electronic fare that we are served up via the internet and other "alternative" music sources is created by anonymous, bedroom studio producers, but in most cases these producers remain anonymous simply because their product does not warrant enough attention to make them famous. Not so Portland, Oregon's ambient masterminds Austere. With six releases since the late 1990s, Austere continues to produce some of the most beautifully compelling abstract music this reviewer has heard. In spite of their obvious talent (or perhaps because of it?) this duo has proved to be extremely camera shy, preferring to have their music speak for them, as a rare post on "The Ambient Way" mailing list stated.


"We're trying to avoid the typical fandom/cult of personality that grows around musicians but rather try to let the merits of our music (or lack thereof) stand alone in how people judge our work. We're also determined to explore areas of music that interest us without regard for popular or commercial potential, and as long as we're happy with the results, we've no mind as to how others take them, other than really enjoying when someone else hears our music and enjoys it too. It surprises and delights us, as we do like bringing happiness to others."


"Wanting to be anonymous seems to put many people off or have them decide that we're not be taken seriously and we're fine with that. We're just trying to make music we like and live up to our own ideals, which we readily admit are not those of the mainstream."


This adventurous and exploratory attitude has resulted in some incredible releases and, recently, the birth of a side project. While specific details on this new undertaking are sketchy (very in keeping with Austere's approach to the public), The Mystifying Oracle features at least one member of Austere and their first release, "quintessence", expands on the ideas first set out by those elusive Oregonians. While the vast majority of Austere's work is beatless ambient, TMO combines the floating, wispy feel of their forefathers with an excellent sense of deep, slow rhythm.

This beautiful CD consists of 3 proper tracks separated by 4 untitled "interludes". The first interlude serves as a short, beatless introduction to the album, flowing directly into the second track, "sagacious gibber". This extended piece combines the tone set in the introduction with an almost tribal beat, yet never loses its dark, droning feel. The bass drum that sets the rhythm puffs along softly, accented by well placed conga strikes and discrete hihat work. All the while, shimmering tones, almost like birdsong, float high above distant, subtly distorted guitar strums. One hears hints of Seefeel and other shoegazers in this track, but is by no means derivative.

Track 3 is a patchwork of Kraftwerk-like electronic tones that skitter in and out of focus. While not loud enough to feel disturbing or chaotic, there is a certain claustrophobic quality to the piece, as if one were floating in muddy water, beneath the surface, tiny fish flashing in and out of your field of vision.

From there, the leap into "effervescence" is something different entirely. The first view seconds are filled with a barely audible drum beat and then this near silence is broken by a melancholy piano chord progression, sounding as if it was played in some distant, lonely room. A cymbal and shaker pattern takes up the rhythm and the drumbeat becomes more pronounced. Bell-like tones and washes sweep in and around the groove. Then, floating out of this beautiful grayness, comes a woman's voice. She sings a brief snippet of "You Go To My Head" in an almost offhand way, her delivery rife with a bleakness reminiscent of Billie Holiday. The singer pops up throughout the track, always sounding as if she too was crooning in that distant room.

Track 5 is a spooky vocal sample that leads right into "laggard's swag". This final instrumental recalls the swirling atmosphere of "sagacious gibber", but seems even more spacious. A dusty snare-like splash begins an appropriately laggardly rhythm and is soon joined by soft cymbal strikes. Then a wonderfully rounded bass drum fleshes out the beat and the song floats off into nothingness. Echoing chimes and quivering synth stabs spiral above the drone, accented by quick, wordless vocal samples, a la early Aphex Twin. The tune then disappears with one last touch of reverb.

The final track is yet another vocal sample, this time recited by an ancient sounding man. "The moving finger writes, and having written, moves on. Nor all your piety, nor wit, shall lure it back to cancel half a line, nor all your tears wash out a word of it." Strange words, yet an appropriate denouement for this CD, as the overall feel of this release would be irreparably damaged by the removal of any of its finely crafted pieces. Contained within these tracks is a journey into the spaces, both inner and outer, and The Mystifying Oracle proves a more than able pilot of both.
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