cassette review: Demonstration Synthesis, DS4

Demonstration Synthesis, aka Daniel Leznoff [Discogs], might hold a record for largest number of releases on different netlabels. In three years he put out 25 releases on 19 labels! (DS17 seems to have gone missing; depending on where that was recorded, the total might be 20 labels -- so far.)
The name "Demonstration Synthesis" is both evocative and understated; possibly it's contributed to the mobility and adaptability of the brand. Regardless of what type of music a label is offering -- new age, ambient, leftfield/techno -- which one doesn't want at least one "demonstration record" in its catalog? The release DS4 sticks closest to that ambiguous spirit, perhaps, with a low-key assortment of minimal sounds akin to scales and test-tones, emphasizing synth timbres or what Eno called "tints" over melody or song construction. This is not to say the work isn't musical -- it is, and like most DS offerings has a slightly wistful and melancholy cast. Rather, the emphasis is on sounds over songs. The structure is there, but hard to pin down.