Archive for September, 2008
The Jerwood Series, Volume 4
Music of Attwood, Baillie, and Causton
London Sinfonietta Label SINF CD1-2008
Like its predecessors, the fourth installment of London Sinfonietta’s Jerwood Series presents promising composers in relatively early stages of their careers. Each has a different approach to writing for the group. William Attwood relies on the inspiration of Jean-Louis Kieffer’s poetry to guide Iwwer Tierman (“Above Towers”), a modernist excursion that alternates between brusque, Stravinskyian thrusts and incantatory Messiaen-inspired digressions. It thus succeeds in providing a musical narrative similar to a Kieffer poem, its trajectory providing a number of deftly orchestrated surprises.
Joanna Baillie’s Five Famous Adagios uses computer modeling based upon slow movements by Bach to create the materials for new pieces. The computer processes extract frequency bands, creating a framework far removed from the baroque world of Bach’s music. Instead, Baillie’s adagios begin in a stylistic realm closer to Farben (from Schoenberg’s Five Pieces for Orchestra) and move towards a more attenuated soundscape resembling Kurtag or Lachenmann at their most fragile. The dramatic setup of the piece itself – five slow movements in a row – is a gutsy choice, and Baillie’s slowly evolving sonic experiments invite the audience to attentive close listening.
Richard Causton is represented by two interrelated chamber works. Sebastian Bell was flutist for the Sinfonietta until his passing in 2007. As an homage, this CD includes Causton’s solo work Sleep, exquisitely performed by Bell. Its darting filigrees and angular post-tonal lines lead seamlessly into Causton’s Phoenix, a vividly scored two-movement work for Pierrot ensemble. Cascading piano arpeggios are juxtaposed against pensive linear counterpoint from strings and winds in a well-paced, beautifully scored colloquy; the buildup of dissonant sustained lines is particularly haunting. I’m eager to hear more by this composer.
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Malcolm Bilson plays Dussek, Cramer, and Haydn
Bridge Records CD 9263 (www.bridgerecords.com)
While one generally thinks of the period instrument movement as involving harpsichordists and organists, fortepianist Malcolm Bilson has recorded on early pianos and facsimiles thereof throughout his career. This disc brings together works from London in the 1790s: a city bustling with expatriate visiting composers. Bilson plays a 2003 replica of a 1799 London-made Longman and Clementi piano.
Jan Ladislas Dussek (1760-1812) wrote his “Farewell” sonata in E-flat major in 1799: the year he left London to escape mounting debts. Dedicated to fellow pianist/composer Muzio Clementi, it’s a behemoth of a piece, with a forceful opening movement, an expansive adagio, a taut, blustery minuet, and a syncopation-filled rondo finale. Dussek is a capable composer, but it takes someone with the dedication of Bilson, whose artful phrasing helps to make this piece sing; the composer’s penchant for symmetrical repeats and stentorian climaxes could prove wearing in lesser hands.
Johann Baptist Cramer’s Variations on Papageno’s aria “Ein Mädchen oder Weibchen” from Die Zauberflöte is a charming intermezzo. Of course, using Mozart’s material as the basis for the work stacks the deck a bit, but Cramer delays the inclusion of certain choice bits from the aria until the very end of the Variations, which makes for a rousing conclusion. Franz Joseph Haydn’s extended sojourns in London are well-known. Bilson includes his largest sonata, Hob. 52 in E-flat, as the recording’s main course. As the pianist points out, he’s been performing the work for some forty years; this experience lends a gravity and authority to his interpretation that makes it one of the most compelling I’ve heard of this warhorse.
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With the record industry still reeling from getting caught flat-footed by the digital era, one would think that they would do their best to help music writers have the materials they need to do their job. Instead, some labels are making it increasingly difficult to write about their releases. A few examples:
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The label which consistently boasts high fidelity audio quality, but is insisting on reviewers listening to considerably lower quality MP3s to judge their releases.
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The PR firms which insist that writers download tracks one at a time rather than sending a digital release.
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Labels which ask writers to write about releases without promos; in other words – buy them out of pocket if you want to write about them.
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PR firms and labels who insist that they are switching to digital distribution to “go green” rather than admitting that it’s a cost-saving measure.
My rebuttal:
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I’m all for going green, but MP3s don’t sound the same as CD audio. You are asking me to review as if I’ve driven the Cadillac when you’ve sent me a bumper car for the test drive.
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My time is valuable and so is my hard drive space. Why do you waste both of them?
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Liner notes, album art, etc. used to be mentioned in reviews. I can’t comment on your product’s packaging without seeing it.
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I usually write without being paid by my outlets. The least you can do is spend a $1 and send a CD.
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Calexico
Carried to Dust
Quarterstick Records
MP3 Download
Formed by alums from seminal experimental bands Giant Sand and Friends of Dean Martinez, Calexico’s long been an exemplary purveyor of indie rock with a Southwestern twist. Their latest, Carried to Dust, ramps up the Tucson outfit’s connection to Tex-Mex music; but this move towards overt geographic sound-printing never devolves into a “genre” album.
Even “El Gatillo,” at first blush directly referential, isn’t an easy nut to crack. The song combines Italian Western soundtrack aesthetics with mariachi brass, overlaid with a soaring surf guitar solo, creating a hazy homage that simultaneously lampoons and transcends its sources. “Two Silver Trees” and “Winter’s Minor Holiday” present the band rocking in fine form. It’s hard to decide which mode is preferable: Calexico does both so well.
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Condo
Best of Luck
Rockpark Records CD
Condo’s Best of Luck is a refreshing take on indie pop with a post-punk twist. Silent Alarm-era Bloc Party and Modest Mouse are clear touchstones for the band; the attitude and yawping vocals found on the title track, “Judge of That,” and “Pursuits” have Isaac Brock written all over them. Wisely, Condo adopts MM’s delicate negotiation of musical experiment and hook-heavy accessibility. Elsewhere, as on “Left at the Lights” and the Wire-esque “Instead of Lonely,” thunderous guitars wend through spacious solos atop catchy vocal choruses: a move toward art rock terrain. Best of Luck is a bracing shot of musical espresso.
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I heard from Signal to Noise’s head honcho Pete Gershon yesterday. StN headquarters made it through Hurricane Ike, but like most of Houston, will be without power indefinitely. Still, trouper that he is, Pete’s planning to bring out the next issue on time. It’s one of the things I’ve admired about StN in the five or so years I’ve been on staff: unlike many other indie magazines, it has kept to its publication schedule irrespective of the vicissitudes of life and the embattled music industry.
I’m breathing a sigh of relief for the Gershons, but am concerned for the publication’s health. StN has soldiered on bravely despite myriad challenges: the economy, the aforementioned music biz woes, and the dangers facing print media in this era of the internet. Yet four times a year, Pete brings out a fine journal, chock full of interviews, articles, and reviews on every type of experimental music you can imagine; and several you’ve probably never heard of before.
A number of people call it “the American Wire,” an admirable compliment to be sure; but in some ways, I prefer the enthusiasm of StN to the sometimes biting tone writers enjoy adopting of late in The Wire.
I’m often surprised when I speak to artists about whom I’ve written, for StN and elsewhere, when I ask if they’ve seen a subsequent issue. Several of them have replied, “No, I don’t subscribe, but I did get a copy of the issue with my article in it.” There’s an assumption that small publications will be there when you need them, but they don’t need your support in return. Nothing could be further from the truth. Most indie pubs rely on an unpaid staff of writers, an increasingly fickle ad market, and a network of distribution that’s changed radically with the contraction of both book and record retailers. Pete makes it look easy by being a paragon of reliability, but it’s a tough world for magazines right now. Add a hurricane on top of it all…
So, here’s my call to Sequenza 21 readers: hurricane relief for Signal to Noise. If you’re curious about the magazine or a casual reader, now is the time to subscribe. It’s only $20 a year in the US: for the cost of a decent meal out, you get four issues of “The Journal of Improvised, Experimental, and Unusual Music.” Record labels, bookstores, record sellers, music schools: wouldn’t now be a great time to buy an ad in the next issue?
http://www.signaltonoisemagazine.org
Signal to Noise
1128 Waverly,
Houston, Texas 77008
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Jolie Holland
The Living and the Dead
Anti CD (www.anti.com)
Jolie Holland’s third studio recording, The Living and the Dead, out October 7, is a leap forward for an already promising artist. Sporting a diverse palette of styles – alt-folk, country, pop, jazz – Holland adds a new twist here. Songs like “Your Big Hands” and “Mexico City” are convincing, energetic, forays into rock, a genre Holland has previously been shy to explore. Guest Marc Ribot adds signature riffs to the hazily hypnotic “Fox in its Hole.” But those who have enjoyed Holland’s ballad singing will not be disappointed. “Sweet Loving Man,” a country waltz replete with fiddle solos, and the tender alt-folk crooner “You Painted Yourself In,” are both touching additions to her catalog.
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Bobo Stenson Trio
Cantando
ECM Records (www.ecmrecords.com)
CD ECM 2023
Pianist Bobo Stenson deserves to be a household name in jazz; but he’s not nearly as well known here in the US as he should be. Perhaps his wide stylistic reach and eclectic selection of material have something to do with it. Stenson is a pianist who’s comfortable playing ‘in’ or ‘out,’ ballads or uptempo, traditional tunes and transcriptions of obscure classical repertory.
ECM Records has long been a staunch supporter of the pianist, and his trio CDs have been highlights on the imprint since 1971. Joined by longtime collaborator bassist Anders Jormin and 29 year-old drummer Jon Fält (in his ECM debut), Stenson recorded his latest, Cantando, in the acoustically lustrous Auditorium Radio Svizzera Italiana, Lugano.
The title of the recording, taken from the Spanish word for ‘singing,’ couldn’t be apter. While Stenson’s aptitude for cantabile playing is nothing new, the material he plays here is an imaginatively conceived program from a diverse array of sources. Modern jazz tunes like Don Cherry’s “Don’s Kora Song” and Ornette Coleman’s lively “A Fixed Goal” sit quite comfortably beside a standard like “Love, I’ve Found You” – demonstrating that mod-jazz and trad jazz have more in common than conservative listeners might assume.
The trio creates a beguiling experiment with Second Viennese School composer Alban Berg’s 1907 lied “Liebesode.” Jormin’s questing arco lines and portentous bass notes from the piano are accompanied by Fält’s ominously subdued textural explorations. Stenson eventually takes up a swinging version of the song’s melody, bringing the world of Expressionism into a jazz context.
Cuban songwriter Silvio Rodriguez’s “Olivia” and Astor Piazzolla’s “Chiquilin de Bachin” extend the disc’s geographic reach; the latter is an excellent showcase for Fält. The disc’s most emotional inclusions are two version of the elegaic “Song of Ruth,” originally composed for soprano and organ, by recently deceased Czech composer Petr Eben. The trio imparts a poignancy to both versions that is moving while never verging on overt sentimentality.
“Pages” is a fourteen minute selection culled from free improvisations made by the group. It shows that, even off the cuff and in a more experimental vein, Stenson and company kept the cantando sensibility firmly in mind.
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Lymbyc System
Love Your Abuser Remixed
Mush Records CD MH-261
www.dirtyloop.com
Sometimes, one wonders whether remix albums have a tendency towards “placeholder” status. Do they add anything significant to a band’s catalog, or are they merely a way to bide time until the next release is ready? In the case of Love Your Abuser Remixed, Lymbyc Systym and a collection of electronica collaborators have crafted imaginative reworkings that make the CD well worth attention as a “proper” release rather than a “placeholder.”
The band’s own remix of “Birds” suggests that their overall vision for the project was to impart a more ambient sensibility to the music. Cohorts like Album Leaf and Bibio share this sentiment, layering repeating ostinati and washes of harmony in aurally pleasing fashion. There’s still variation to be had; Daedelus’s remix of “So We Can Sleep” interpolates subversive twittering chatter between wide swaths of chordal vamps; Eliot Lipp’s version of “Pittsburgh Left” features his trademark glitchy-yet-danceable vibe. The total is a pleasing collection that rivals the album proper.
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Pontiak
Sun on Sun
Thrill Jockey Records CD Thrill 206
(www.thrilljockey.com)
The Carney brothers – Van, Lain, and Jennings – spent stints separately in numerous bands before their musical paths crossed, resulting in Pontiak. With thunderous riffs that reference prog-metal, expansive song structures that skirt the post-rock vein while incorporating hallucinogenic psychedelia around the edges, this Virginia-based family cooperative can be difficult to pin down on their Thrill Jockey debut Sun on Sun.
However eclectic their songs may be, Pontiak’s impressive ensemble chops (must be in the DNA!) and enthusiastic musicality are sure through-lines. The title track alone is worth the price of admission; a bleary nine-minute jam in which incantatory vocals are accompanied by Sabbath-style guitars howling and bass guitar rumblings of portentous doom. It’s guaranteed to snap even the most reluctant vacationer right out of summer break!
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