Robert Henke’s latest work, Atom/Document, was created as an accompaniment to sound-artist Christopher Bauder’s Atom, an 8×8 arrangement of 64 helium-filled balloons that each contain an LED that responds to Henke’s complex musical composition. Though the experience of Atom and Henke’s Atom/Document are indeed a VISUAL as much as an audio experience, as can be seen here:

Atom/Document stands on it’s own as a collection of engrossing experiments in sound. Henke’s more popular work has been as a member of dub-techno duo Monolake, not to mention his engineering prowess in creating the Atlantic Waves software and Monodeck II hardware, still Henke seems most at home in his conceptual work that he continues from ’06’s Layering Buddha.

Tracks like the opening ‘[Flicker]‘, ‘[Convex]‘ and the finale ‘[Exit]‘ are atmospheric works whose noise patterns are downright entrancing in stereo. The tinny crescendo’s and tense harmonies of these pieces are not the end all of Atom/Document’s scope. As Bauder’s physical piece hinges on percussive beats and loose, evolving melodies, Henke’s work on tracks like ‘[Shift_Register]‘, ‘[Metropol]‘, and ‘[Crossing]‘ take the ambient qualities of the tracks mentioned earlier and fuse them with the thump of distorted bass and a minimal tint that layers mechanical clangs. Of them, ‘[Shift_Register]‘ is most impressive, its pleasant piano offset by a persistent tick-tock that ramps into a thriller of a climax that combines the trickle of metal and a hefty dose of white noise.

Though Atom/Document seems as though it should be issued with a companion DVD, or some other form of incorporating Bauder’s visual instrument, Henke’s latest is, at least to this reviewer, an immersive experience that despite its experimental/intelligent design opens an ear to the subtlety and complexity that music can convey at deafening volumes despite saying what seems like very little.

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