The other three discs from the recently released Another Timbre box- as before, these don't even qualify as capsule reviews: at best, these are a flurry of initial impressions, many of which will include the words 'sparse' and / or 'lovely'.
Thut- Many, 1-4. We left our last episode, if you'll recall, with the flat Manfred Werder cliffhanger- it's a relief to hear something sensual, albeit brief, after that.###
Improvisation #08.01.12. Really engrossing improvisation, full of alluring sounds. Can't possibly give more than that on one listen, except to say I know already I will end up playing this many, many times. #####
Sfirri- for the choice of directions #1. Almost literally unremarkable. Come on, I've not hit my stride yet, let me warm up. ##
Susam- for maaike schoorel. Now this is beautiful, for what that's worth. Long, potent silences and then a sudden flurry of chamber music sounds, just for a few seconds. Some brief dialogue and some deep, vital (good Ben Watson word, that) double bass (I'm guessing). Really, really good. #####
Lash- For Five. Breathy- every sound is important here. Sustained notes on different instruments, working together, working alone. And yet hypnotic. Very taken with this. ####
Frey- Time Intent memory. A very pure tone to open, and again this is going to take far more than one listen. I can't even formulate my opinions on this yet, though I suspect I may come to like it a lot. And that's very much becoming the theme of this batch of tracks, and that's no bad thing. I don't think there's any doubt though that the concept of the 'boxed set' / 'compilation' is going to end up working against a lot of this music. I can't imagine I'm going to feel the urge to play these discs from start to finish particularly often- I'm not sold on there being a 'theme' for each of these discs, despite the titles they've been allocated, very poetic and suggestive titles like 'Drifts' and 'Eddies'. Inevitably some pieces are going to fall by the wayside, and only by keeping these brief, insubstantial notes can I really track what I'm going to want to hear again and why. ####
Sfirri- for the choice of directions #2. Some rather obviously 'pretty' pluckings which is a bit of a shock to the system. ###
Frey- Circular Music. Again there's something obvious and straightforward about the instrumentation here, and surely anyone could find this attractive. But I find this far less frustrating than the Sfirri. This piece comes from a classical background and I would argue seems the most overly classical of all the pieces so far. Actually this is gorgeous. You know, this could be played on Classic FM and I don't think anyone would blink. #####
Werder- 2008 (6). My main man! A very rainy field recording and what may or may not be a double bass. This is a more satisfying listen than the other Werder pieces. That's as far as I'll go. ###
Frey- Un champ de tendresse... Whistling wind and clattering percussion- enjoyable if perhaps a little lightweight. Sorry, probably not really supposed to use throwaway words like that. One listen, remember, one listen. I can get away with anything here. ###
Susam- for sesshu toyo. Hard to get any sort of a grasp on this from one listen. Sparse and fairly uninvolving. ###
Pisaro- Descending Series (1). Quite lovely set of very echoey piano notes. There's a very low electronic drone with the piano above it. The notes never seem to die- they fall away, they linger, and then, where they've fallen, they gather. It's ptetty. ####
Cage- Prelude for Meditation. A piece with repetition, with a hook even. How did that sneak in here? It's over in a flash, so don't worry. Another palate cleanser, and very welcome. ####
Sfirri- little by little #1. I need another word for sparse. Very breathy, atmospheric, layers of minimal sound piled one on the other. Again, waves and then a gathering of reserves. ###
Davies- Cofnod Pen Bore. An Autechre cover? Apparently not. This is really good, sensual stuff, something to get your teeth in to and something to luxuriate in. That's nice, getting all that from a brief piece like this- this could have been much longer and I would have been happy. #####
Sfirri- natural at last #3. Raw, rough, growly. Can't really see any particular connections with the first two readings of this. ###
Sfirri- little by little 2. There's not a hell of a lot going on here, but what there is is fascinating. These Sfirri pieces are hard to pin down and impossibly hard to write about. ####
White- Drinking and Hooting Machine. The joker in the pack. A mood changer certainly. Long live the Clangers.###
Sfirri- little by little 3. The brief duration doesn't do a piece like this any favours. This, more than any of the last few Sfirri realizations is hanging around in my head though. Already I want to listen to it again. Who knows- 6 and a half hours into this set and I can't even tell what I like any more. ###
Nemeth- eine unbedeutende aussage. There's something very satisfying about the pure held tone against the scratching and the forraging. Sensual almost. No, strike out that almost. Sensual. It makes the skin tingle. ####
Houben- von da nach da. Droning strings and vibrant railroad percussion- this isn't a million miles away from a GYBE! track. Then a second section where the drones dominate. Fascinating, compelling and a really good way to end the set. ####
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Have a huge amount of respect for this set, as I hope I've conveyed, and further listens can only deepen this respect. I think, generally, there are too many short pieces, and one or two further improvisations would have been welcome. The Werder pieces you can keep, but perhaps that goes without saying. I'll listen to them again, but I rather begrudge it. I don't know- perhaps that tells more about me than the music. There's a considerable amount of music on this set though that I'm going to be spending a considerable amount of time with- I think it's a fine release.
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