by François Couture This two-CD set released in 2000 by the German label Intermedium culls three solo performances by turntablist/sound artist Philip Jeck. "Vinyl Coda I" and "Vinyl Coda II" come from two live radio broadcasts in February 1999. "Vinyl Coda III" was performed at the event Intermedium 1 in November of the same year. In all three pieces, Jeck uses a number of turntables and prepared records to create strange soundscapes in which crackles and pops meet with antiquated comments (from self-help records, for instance) and disembodied snippets of music from all fields. The juxtaposition of odd, unrelated sources and the accumulation of a number of layers of sound are what drive these pieces forward, what captures the attention. The approach is similar to Claus van Bebber or Martin Tétreault before he began to leave the recording medium behind to focus on the record player itself. The best of all three works is the first, also the shortest at 22 minutes. Listeners have no time to grow tired as Jeck fades awkward loops in and out, fusing themes expertly. The third piece (also on disc one due to time restrictions) starts with the looped cheers of a live audience and moves on to beat-oriented material. Not a standard DJ set by all means, it remains less engaging. The 63-minute "Vinyl Coda II" occupies all of the second disc. It contains moments of great beauty, especially in quieter passages where the layers sound more integrated than simply stacked, but it also suffers from a couple of passages à vide. Less cutting-edge than later Tétreault or Otomo Yoshihide's music, Jeck still has something to say and here he relies less on quotations than on Vinyl Coda IV, making the works in this set more subtle.