Elliott Sharp

Virtual Stance presented some of Elliott Sharp's earliest works involving the sampler which had just begun to find its way into the downtown New York City avant scene in the mid-'80s. It's used here most often as a generator of percussive sounds derived from his homemade instruments, sometimes in tandem with a drum machine. To his credit, Sharp rarely allows the latter to fall into the static patterns so common at the time, rhythms that doubtlessly sounded cool then but, in retrospect, seem completely sterile. All of the music, composed originally as a dance score, is performed by the duo of Sharp and the then-young-and-unknown drummer Bobby Previte. The self-designed instruments sampled tend to be of the type whose strings are usually struck instead of bowed (pantar, slab, rack), so, combined with Sharp's typically atonal guitar work, the general feel of the album is percussive in nature, although the closing "Wrap It Up," full of odd, bowed-sounding tones, is ravishing. By "limiting" his palette thusly, he's able to concentratedly investigate this realm and displays evident glee in doing so. Less song-based than much of his work both prior to and after this release, Virtual Stance has something of the air of science experiment but still largely succeeds on a visceral level, wedding the harsh propulsiveness of his first albums (like I/S/M and Carbon) with the mathematically tinged explorations of works like Marco Polo's Argali. It's a strong release and one that Sharp fans will certainly enjoy. ~ Brian Olewnick, All Music Guide