arc lab - the goodbye radio

Medard Fischer returns with his rather cryptically-titled third album, “The Goodbye Radio”. Representing a large step forward for Fischer's Arc Lab project, the album is structured as a musical reinterpretation of the sonnet form in which field recordings, organic instrumentation, radio noise, candid male vocals and snippets of old public domain recordings meet with the FM synthesis, female vocals and signature beatwork that made previous Arc Lab efforts so special. Thematic reference points include the Russian space program, relativity, female serial killers, and being separated from a soulmate. This diverse collection of influences gives the album a more personal feel than previous efforts as there are now human stories attached to Fischer's Arc Lab scheme. Genre specific sign-posts or “this-meets-that” descriptors are really of little use in describing “The Goodbye Radio” as Fischer has now taken Arc Lab to places where the synthetic only aid him in the preservation of great music and ideas. But, as the title may allude to, this may be Fischer's final offering. Let's hope not. An artist capable of such alchemy would be a significant loss for all of us. Let's hope the Arc Lab radio stays on and at its full volume.