Univers Temporel Espoir

German sound artist/composer Bernhard Günter makes music that hovers right on the edge of audibility. A pioneer in the “lowercase” movement, he uses heavily treated samples of unknown source to create patiently unfolding compositions that rumble, hum, scrape and ping. Patterns are rarely evident, but a sustained mood seeps into the listener’s bones as a track progresses. Univers Temporel Espoir was the first release on his own Trente Oiseaux label, from 1999, and if you’ve got the solitude (and the quality headphones) to appreciate it, it’s an extraordinary listening experience. On the two-part “Un Lieu Pareil À Point Effacé” (“A Place Similar to an Erased Point”), gentle skittering sounds move from right to left, just behind your head, as though a squirrel has run through the room. On “The Ant Moves/The Black and Yellow Carcass/A Little Closer,” sounds like steam, or like water boiling, mix with what could be vinyl crackle or a hissing wind.