Taken from TheMinnesota Daily - A&E - October 1, 1997

Ear of the beholder

By Spencer Foxworth

Ousia isn't the easiest band to grasp, butthat's just fine with them. It's when people start noticing their work-- and loving it -- that makes them wonder.

"I've been so used to listening to music that makes everyone say, 'Whatthe hell is this?' that I got used to people not liking what I play," saysJason Shapiro, Ousia's keyboardist. "So the fact that people are likingour work is really weird, actually."

Why Is That a Four? (Prospective Records), the local group'sdebut album -- a hypnotic morass of ambient, trance and avant-garde guitarnoise -- wheels and soars above the most minimal of melodic frameworks.Perfect for inducing visions and scaring the cat, but it's unapproachablefrom the dancefloor's standpoint (you can't shake much of anything to it)and they've got no snappy lyrics to sing. Instead of a single frontman,they cultivate a unified anonymity, performing in masks and costumes. And,after ditching the Blueshift moniker, they've got that darn unpronounceablename (it means, in Aristotelian metaphysics, "being" or "substance").

But then again, maybe it's not such a surprise that Ousia's fanbaseis growing. Their music, if you're in the mood, is viscous, complex anddownright spooky: Why Is That a Four? works best in a darkened roomduring an October thunderstorm, and who doesn't love a good scare now andthen?

And if the electronica trend has done anything, it's reawakened publicawareness to the experimental electronic music of the '70s and early '80s,a legacy to which Ousia's soundscapes lay direct ancestral claim. Shapirocites Kraftwerk, Tangerine Dream, early Can, and Syd Barret-era Pink Floyd("up to Ummagumma") as influences -- the latter of which inexorablygives Ousia its eerily psychedelic edge.

"Ideally," Shapiro says, "our music induces active listening ...zoningin, zoning out, letting the music alter your mood... Whenever we play ashow, we get a pretty strong reaction either way. There'll be the peoplethat leave after a minute, and there'll be those that sit there and getinto it."

Strange, using the expression "sit there" along with "getting into it,"but that's hitting Ousia's nail on the head. Sixty minutes worth of WhyIs That a Four? doesn't generate loads of physical motion, but themind -- if that's not spinning crazily, something's definitely wrong.

As with most ambient, experimental groups, Ousia's more concerned withdescribing textures than matching beats, and appreciating their music demandsa greater role of the intellect than the booty. Not that Ousia's a bunchof pompous, ivory-tower snobs -- Shapiro was watching The IncredibleHulk during our interview -- they're just more concerned with metaphysicsthan, say, Korn.

Which explains both the album's title and Ousia's musical philosophies."We were looking at how Braille comes up with numbers," Shapairo explains,"wondering why the Braille sign for 'four' means 'four'." Just as a wordcorresponds to the concept only in your mind, so Ousia's music questionsthe relationship of listener to listened. Why Is It a Four? definitelycommunicates something, but to say it's a universal communiqu‚ would beway over-the-top. Ousia's droning sweeps are scary, but how scary -- andwhy -- depends upon who's listening.