Even if I’m entirely too young to have ever staggered out of a warehouse covered in glowsticks and good vibes, Black Mesa’s experimental rave slaps pretty hard. But while there are elements of performance to Dunning’s streams, it’s hard to pop on a two-hour twitch VOD while out for a jog. Released today, Panopticon rearranges that mess of generative noise into a more listenable, deliberately-curated package. (Your mileage may vary as to how “listenable” it actually is. Taste and all.)
To the untrained ear, it’s hard to find Half-Life’s imprint at first listen. But rest assured, Valve’s ‘98 shooter has left a particularly resonant cascade on Panopticon’s soundscape. Drumbeats are synced to Gordon Freeman’s footsteps, sure, and the staccato semi-automatic rhythm of pistols, shotguns and crowbar swipes mark much of the album’s rhythm. But Half-Life’s soundscape also had some unique, bizarre quirks. Anyone who’s spent any time in Black Mesa’s labyrinthine vents will immediately pick up the notably flange-tinted reverb in “Yellow Henge (Radio Occult)”. If you’re interested in the process, Dunning is currently streaming another session over on Twitch. At time of writing, he’s just burst a particularly creepy Gargantua before Half-Life’s infamous tram segment - the alien brute chanting “come take a trip to my won-der-land” as it chases him down. Ghastly. Panopticon is available to stream on Bandcamp now. If you’re feeling extra old-school and have a tape player kicking about, £9 will get you an honest-to-god cassette.
