John Roberts - Can Thought Exist Without The Body (2019)

Beautifully ponderous blends of solo piano keys, strings and fine-feathered electronics from John Roberts, keeping it regular with his once-every-three-years album outing. Essentially, the minimal house & techno influences of his earlier LPs ‘Glass Eights’, ‘Fences’ and ‘Plum’ are left for dust as John heads for a tonal and textural sound world exploring space and bittersweet dissonance with the calm, unhurried poise that has won him stacks of followers over the years. Let’s just say it opens more questions than it answers.

“What are the best non-physical landfills for discarded thought? Do waves transition between naturally occurring substrates and audio signals? Does adrenal fatigue and replenishment in the human brain relate to cycles of euphoria and dysphoria in music? What is the mental effect of visual versus aural repetition? Is all music fictional? Can the language of objects and memories impregnate sound? Are bodies out of fashion? What is the music production equivalent to a green screen in film? What is the best non-physical preservation method for sound? Is film editing a way of ordering memories? Is repetition therapeutic? Are all films fictional? Have physical forms slipped into obsolescence? Did Erik Satie have an anxiety disorder? Is background music parasympathetic? Are physical players more virtuosic than virtual instruments? Is thought finite? Is physical music a fetish? Is reality fictional? What is the most elegant way to float between corporeal and ethereal forms? Do memories deteriorate and fade like audio signals exposed to the elements? Can thought exist without the body?”