According to the one-sheet accompanying this CD, 'Ivory' is the third solo record from Vienna-based 'soundworker' Peter Kutin. This is an ambient album, and Mr. Kutin derives his sounds primarily from guitar-triggered electronics real-time through a laptop. On a few tracks other instruments were used such as viola, Korg synth, and double-bass, the latter played by Mattija Shellander. Apparently 'Ivory' came about while Kutin was writing music for old silent movies for the Austrian film archive, though the music on 'Ivory' bears little resemblance to preconceived notions about silent film music, or at least none that I've heard.

There is a delicacy and quietude on 'Ivory' that is a result of very subtle sound manipulation on Kutin's part. Much of the music is comprised of multi-textured long dronish ambiences that morph and swirl but guitar (processed in various ways) also plays a major role in the soundscapes. You can recognize it ¾ of the way though the opening track 'Elsewhere' in a melodic riff using tremolo and other processing. Or, on second track 'White Desert' with a base of sustained very low tones swathed in reverb and bits of echoed picking.

'World Without End' employs is sizzling yet subtle melodic short loop as a basis for much of the piece while other electronic elements such as bass rumblings and airy and angelic electronics play off of it. Fragile ringing guitar strings are a major component of 'After the Plague' along with the sound of water rushing, lazy sustained tones, bass drone, and other incidentals. 'Storb' features gauzy guitar harmonics over a bass drone background. At about the 2:15 mark in 'Sombre' a loop sample of some classical sounding strings emerges from the bassy ambient gloom like the ghost of an old victrola. You can also hear field recording of a barking dog, children's voices, chirping birds, etc. Later in the piece this is replaced by water sounds, then some subtle fragments of piano-like melodies, undoubtedly guitar-based as it morphs into processed guitar sounds.

I can't emphasize enough how subtle the sound of 'Ivory' is; you may not notice anything at all until past the 2 minute mark on the final track, 'Lonesome Monster'. The muted taps, filmy drones, wispy tones and sparkling electronics may seem like they're hardly even there, but that's the point. Kutin's world of 'Ivory' is an elegant exercise in the sublime, and even the thunderstorm that breaks the tranquility at the end of the recording is but a gentle rain washing the slate clean.