Composer and visual artist Stephen Nester has undergone -- and survived -- a number of aesthetic incarnations. The erstwhile HAPPINESS BOY evolved into SLAP, and following an extended creative hiatus resurfaced as BELT. The abstract electronic music he made and continues to make, however, has not changed. It remains as fierce, provocative, and unwavering as ever. The sounds: visceral, insistent, resonate. At once a pulsating melange that presents a bracing sonic swipe at the senses (and sensibilities); alternately a lush soundtrack for (post-)modernity. With the release of 1995's Ghost Stories, Nester's multiple musical identities converge and compel as he fuses ideas past and present. This judiciously edited collection documents his long-time explorations into the mystery of banal reality. Manipulation of neutral machines yields an intensely personal vision, stripped bare of ornamentation and artifice, yet imbibed with emotional content.