Bass Communion – Ghosts on Magnetic Tape

The 2004 masterpiece Ghosts on Magnetic Tape by the musical mastermind Steven Wilson shows his versatility as a musician by creating evocative pieces of minimalism with the aid of processed field recordings as well as using old 78 rpm records played at half speed to achieve an aural, ethereal sound that is all together haunting as it is beautiful. The tracks feel seamlessly linked together but at the same time each inherits a uniquely different sound world.

The tracks make the listener feel very confined within the music, trapped in the pulsating sound, but at the same time drawn in and trying to capture all that is going on. It is that pulsating sound that is so near and dear to myself as a listener of Bass Communion because it makes the experience of intently listening to the record all the more satisfying and rewarding.

The piece, unlike most contemporary music (of which this is most definitely not) has no crescendo or memorable part to the music. It is one constant piece of flowing, morphing sound and should be viewed as such.

To even call it music in the traditional sense is a bit awkward and a moot point. The piece is an experiment in pure sound and what can be done with pure sound. A piece like this challenges what the regular tradition of what sound should be. I recommend this to any beginner of Bass Communion, as this was the first piece that I had heard by one of Steven Wilson’s alter egos and would not be writing this review if I had not heard his other Bass Communion pieces as well.

This is the most true-to-form piece by Bass Communion that I have heard and believe that it is was the sound that Steven Wilson was going for since starting this project.

5 stars – Sean Bradley

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