|
As Powder French, Gregg Puchalski records some of the most seriously music on this - or any other - planet!
Silver extends the meaning of warped to include some kind of instability in addition to electronic manipulations. These five
compositions are dense and full of wildly experimental sounds, timbres and textures. Gregg surrounds them with dark atmospheres,
sinister rhythms and harsh bass lines. Feedback and static add to the confusion and the danger. This is ominous stuff with
dark and harsh edges. It is also excellent music, worth its weight in, well, brass anyway!
Jim Brenholts - The Ambient Navigator
|
Maps/Looms is a set of dark minimalism from Gregg Puchalski, a.k.a. Powder French. He rides a deep drone
and avant-garde timbres to the edges of reality and warps every sound that he uses. The results are scary atmospheres and
frightening soundscapes. The disc consists of two long form (30') pieces. The experimental environs are voracious and dense.
Greg works from a vacuum and continually - yet slowly - sucks everything into it. It is difficult to sustain an edge this
hard for this long. This rare and obscure gem is worth finding and owning! Jim Brenholts - The Ambient Navigator
|
|
Obscurity is not a Virtue is a collection of the best Powder French (Gregg Puchalski) tracks from the 1990's. These are some
seriously warped and distorted compositions from the darker realms of reality. Greg seems to have processed just about any
sound he could find. The atmospheres are deep and ominous. The disc gets darker with each piece. This is some seriously
malevolent minimalism. It is also rare and, ironically, obscure. It is worth making Herculean efforts to locate it! Jim
Brenholts - The Ambient Navigator
|
Density 22/Portal is a set of doomsday ambience from Gregg Puchalski, a.k.a. Powder French. There is no mistaking Gregg's
intent on this CD. From the start, this is a scary and dark experience. He seems like he is hell bent on describing - well
- hell! This CD could - and should - be the muzak that Charon plays as he crosses the Styx. Gregg does it all within a very
tight structure. His meticulous sound design is downright pedantic in its attention to detail. Greg missed nothing. The
static, feedback, echo and deep drones surround each other as sci-fi and experimental sounds smack into each other. This
is not a ride to be taken alone.Jim Brenholts - The Ambient Navigator
|
|
MILLVALE INDUSTRIAL THEATER SHOW REVIEW:
Powder French took the stage next. Another solo electronic act, consisting of a lone middle-aged, eloquent
gentlemen in black, almost timid and shy it seemed as he crept to the corner of the stage where his keyboard and computer
awaited him. His work was at first pleasingly harsh, though very cool. Apocalyptic sounds spewed forth from the large speakers,
with a wonderful trancey techno backdrop. Hard beats thudded and pounded over manipulated feedback, creepy samples, and chaotic
distorted synthisizers. I loved it. Once he had us hooked, the disharmony faded a bit as some rainy-day, bleak piano worked
its way in there. It was at this point that I was puffing away on my clove and sat enthralled with this man's malevolent orchestral
wizardry. But before things got to pensively melancholic, Powder kicked as back in the teeth again with the brain-scrambling
beats and drowned us yet again with ominous electronic tidal waves. A sigh of disappointment when he closed his set, but a
roaring of applause erupted nonetheless.
review by Matt Heilman http://www.starvox.net/crypt/jan1.htm STARVOX Online Music Zine
"Powder French's music is quality enough to be ranked as high as the best electronic /experimental groups
working in the U.S. today, such as Randy Greif and Illusion Of Safety." - Manny Theiner
|
Prey is a dynamic adventure in experimental ambience from Powder French - Gregg Puchalski. This is one hot
CD! Gregg's warped samples and synthesizer gibberish bounce around a rhythm track and create drones upon drones. The title
track is a 30-minute extravaganza of bizarre timbres and frightful textures. The entire disc is great anti-social ambience.
Gregg is toiling on the edges of reality and of obscurity. This disc takes him deeper, certainly into surreality, maybe into
his own obscurity. It gets better with every listen. Deep listeners will hear something different and/or extra with every
listening experience. Deep listening is definitely an experience, too! Gregg does not guarantee the safety of listening alone
and this is anti-social ambience. That is quite a dilemma.
Jim Brenholts - The Ambient Navigator
|