Oramics est un dispositif musical électronique produisant des sons au moyen de figures dessinées par l'opérateur sur une plaque de verre, en un groupe de lignes superposées représentant chacune une qualité de la musique, sa hauteur, son amplitude, etc, ou des instructions destinées à une série d'effets, écho, filtres etc. L'instrument a été conçu et réalisé par Daphne Oram, musicienne et compositrice britannique qui fut parmi les fondateurs du célèbre BBC Radiophonic Workshop dans les années 1950.

Andrea Parker's Aperture label returns to deliver its most interesting release yet - a concept album featuring re-works of original material from the Daphne Oram archives made by Parker and cohort Daz Quayle. It's a tricky proposition - tackling source material of this calibre might well be seen as ill-advised, but Parker and Quayle do a good job of drawing out the inherent darkness of Daphne's recordings without ever pandering to stereotypical Radiophonic tropes. The set opens with a treated interview given by Oram on Radio Four's "Women's Hour', overlaying that distinctive voice with eerie tremors and stark soundscapes which set the template nicely for whats to follow. The fact that Parker and Quayle had access to the full Oram Archive over at Goldsmiths during the making of these pieces lends these recordings an extra dimension - you never quite know if what you're listening to stems from the original tapes or from something new, a testament not only to Daphne's visionary musical vocabulary but also to Parker and Quayle's understanding of it. "Frightened of Myself" is a case in point, a track built around a short vocal loop that heads deep down into the darkest recesses of sound to deliver something genuinely terrifying. Some of the other pieces are more overtly modern - "Ghost Hamlet" unfolds into a robust percussive number which, to these ears at least, is far less interesting than the more Concrète pieces to be found on this set, but still, it's interesting to hear the source material in this context. Overall though - it's hard to overstate just how good a job Parker and Quayle have done of working their own musical ideas into the mix without ever disrespecting Oram's unique aesthetic. (Boomkat)