A new EP-length album by PBK titled "Soul Under Stress" has been released on Thomas Bey William Bailey's label as part of his FMOA Audio Postcard series. Info below:
"For the final Fifteen Minutes of Anonymity postcard release of 2024, we are proud to present this engaging précis of PBK’s audio work. PBK a.k.a. Phillip Klingler is easily one of the more prolific sound artists to have emerged from the mid-1980s fusion of “mail art” practice with the networked audio subculture (in this case, I’m happy to say, quality and quantity are not mutually exclusive properties). Perhaps guided by his visual arts background - in particular, a keen sense of Surrealist methods - Klingler’s work flows with an uncanny amorphous quality, as if the artist were composing with some kind of ever-evolving sentient matter rather than with something as comparatively limited as “instruments”.
PBK’s collaborations are far too numerous to mention here without making it seem as if collaboration is what really sets his work apart (and you can certainly get started here: pbksound.bandcamp.com). This is nevertheless a symptom of a larger tendency towards a kind of “conversational-ism” that has been fairly influential on yours truly. The dizzying number of creative partnerships involving PBK are the product of a determination to habitually explore the borderlines between fixed genres and creative disciplines, between the conscious and unconscious, between careful contemplation and a playful inclination to just leave the machines running and see what happens.
Inspired partially by vintage sci-fi and partially by a general fatigue with our present socio-political climate, “Soul Under Stress” is a powerful condensation of sonic features that we could categorize as “post-industrial,” but this only takes us so far. The urgency and shuddering metallic intensity of that musical style is here in healthy doses, but presented with the somewhat more “open” character of electro-acoustic improvisation. This see-sawing between a sense of careful control, and lack thereof, has an outright psychedelic feeling to it, which places this firmly in Music To Take In Place Of Drugs territory. Enjoy!
Note that, like all albums in this series, the purchase entitles you to a limited edition postcard with visual artwork by the artist, along with free shipping to anywhere in the world."
