Aranos has been a very busy Bohemian bee the past few years having released a 7" on Klanggalerie, a 10" on Beta-lactam Ring Records and several albums including art/music collaborations with Nurse With Wound. Here the Ireland based multi-instrumentalist mixes it up with Milwaukee's Jon Mueller and Chris Rosenau of Pele and Telecognac among others. Seven oddly titled tracks make up the 45 minutes on this edition of 500 on Crouton Records (croutonmusic.com). "The Other is B flat" sets into motion a hypnotic lullaby of small metallic objects, electronic swirl, delicately plucked guitars and long, bowed violin notes. The next four tracks continue the flow with a background becomes the foreground sort of mellow surrealism: orphaned snippets of ambient wash/drone, the clanking of clutter, mildly distorted scraped electric strings, minor electronic discharge and brief piano flutter. In particular, "Thinking of Penis and Vagina" makes me think of a light breeze propelling a rusty swing in an empty park just barely within earshot of a train yard. "Now Sparkling Ice" is apparently all Aranos and it sounds that way. It's a peculiar yet warm vocal and violin piece in which he accompanies himself both vocally and musically. The first half of the final track "Boiled Pear" violently churns through binary garbage over stray piano/banjo notes and a floating background presence, then quietly settles through the latter five minutes. Far from random and abrasive, "Bleeding.." is accomplished and very pleasant indeed: the sort of disc that demands to be played from start to finish and you lose yourself in. The packaging is a pretty fold-up with equally surreal poetry upon the flaps. Get this while you still can. - Mark Weddle

1 The Other Is B Flat 8:09

2 Monstrous Majority Muddle 2:35

3 Peculiar Atlantic Game Fish 4:30

4 Thinking Of Penis And Vagina 5:03

5 Hair Blond Like Summer Swingsets 2:57

6 Now Sparkling Ice 11:37 7 Boiled Pear 10:41