– General Description: Laurel Halo is a classically trained musician and recording artist from Ann Arbor, Michigan who focuses on electronic music. She is someone who, by the sounds of it, has lived near a mechanic’s shop, played a lot of paddle ball, had numerous headaches (the kind where you can hear your own heartbeat in your ear), and truly listened to the carbonation in her soda at the diner.

In Situ is a Latin phrase that translates to ‘on site’ and is used in many different contexts for measurements. E.g. you test a piece of equipment ‘in situ’ to make certain it works with the entire system it is designed for as opposed to working only when it is in isolation. This can be applied to singular elements of electronic music which can range from annoying to ethereal when heard solo but somehow ‘work’ when ‘in situ’ with other elements. When listening to and composing electronic music it is important to not get too fixated on a singular sound element lest the exploration of sound mixtures becomes stagnant.

Halo applies a seemingly constant, though subtle, manipulation of her aural choices in this work. For the most part it is soothing and not combative despite her fondness for military percussion.

– FCC Compliant: YES
– Recommended Tracks: 2, 6, 7
– Track Reviews:
1. (4:29) Situation - sounds like a situation on a space ship with the crew’s heartbeats mingling with the action
2. (3:19) Leaves - as they fall to the ground, some collide, some don’t; woodpeckers everywhere
3. (5:01) Nebenwirkungen - title is the German word for ‘side effect’; sounds like they’re pounding at the door and on the plumbing
4. (5:03) Drift - dance beats with some drifting fuzzy marimba-like sounds
5. (3:50) Nah - sounds like a tap dance in reverse while playing with a paddle ball
6. (4:06) Shake - carbonated sounds in a mechanic’s shop
7. (1:41) Nimrud - title is the later Arab name for the ancient Assyrian city of Kalhu; sounds like the aliens have landed in Iraq
8. (8:24) Focus I - wandering electric keyboard drifting behind a consistent rhythmic overlay heavy on the hi-hats