Sound-sculptors Eliane Radigue, AGF, Kaffe Matthews
and Ryoko Kuwajima come to this project for purposes
of collaboration, but not the sort which implies a dilution
and polishing away of each participant’s predilections
and rough edges, rather one which witnesses its members
continuously jousting so as to refine and realize their
vocation all the more.
A mini-orchestra of microscopic fragments, from shrill
squeaks to grainy throbs and shards of static debris,
the opening moments of Before The Libretto
pound the senses with a frenetic, off-kilter energy
and strongly propulsive rhythmic drive. Following this
bombardment, the slew of dubious, fractured data recedes
leaving behind only the murmur of tape hiss and a foreboding,
multi-layered drone, which reminds of Radigue's work
in the Trilogy On Death, similarly imparting
the sense on the listener of a vast open space.
Oftentimes, the musicians do not seem to be occupying
the same harmonic and rhythmic space. And yet, despite
this tendency, sounds don't appear bald or hoarse. Instead,
this lack of relation becomes the fertile ground on
which movements grow and develop. Birken, for
instance, fiddles with a certain dualism when a shaft
of processed guitar feedback oscillates from lulling
and baleful to caustic and evasive. This process is
furthered on Heimat as very high frequencies
are augmented by magnetic fluctuation and screechy squeals
marked by metallic flanges. In this way, the confrontational,
even violent, bent of this work is funnelled into something
quiet but intense.
In their break-away from standardized playing, other
pieces such as Kuchen Keiki Cake and Avoiding
Shipping bring to mind the latter work of AMM,
what with their meticulous montage of grinding, metallic
noise, jerking flutters and sluggishly thrumming distant
drones. Even when more uniform territories are harvested,
as in My Within, when more introverted, textural
sonorities rise to the fore, these players come across
as being wary of each other’s presence. Rather
than hindering the clarity of this work, however, this
lack of benevolence promotes a more direct, distinctive
path, as individual projects grow strong and defined
through their constant interference with others. This
is not to say, of course, that these players seek to
oppress each other; indeed, given that players don't
step one another’s lines and annul such reciprocal
relations, there is a seeming recognition of the other
as a condition of each player’s action. As such,
over the course of these thirteen compositions each
contrasting element cues the action of the other and
fashions a surprisingly swift progression of events.
These four women have erected a pulpit that holds much
promise, one on which Before The Libretto,
rife with tiny abrasive particles that elate the ear,
stands as a fine first act.
Max Schaefer
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