| Sign up for our Email Newsletter & Subscriber Only Specials |
 |
|
Phone Orders Welcome 425-336-4830
Payment Options Checks & Money Orders By Mail Accepted
|
Frankenstein
|
|
|
|
Quantity:
 E-mail this product to a friend
|
 |
| Completely bonkers. From the very appealing outside of this release, one would take it for an ordinary duet album by two of the London scene's more adventurous players - and how wrong one would be. Only the track titles give away the fact that something quite genuinely demented is going on within. The disc's 32 tracks are formed by collaging together a variety of solo and duet performances which form the basic material and are rarely heard by themselves, producing instead often densely layered virtual jam sessions. A helpful diagram is enclosed which, to take a typical example, indicates that the first track is the middle section of a duet improvisation, overlaid with samples from the other sections played ad lib on keyboards. This is itself then sampled and forms part of the next piece, along with a performance of Bach's Partita No. 2 sampled from the third track. The album as a whole is structured like an elaborate knot, recursively sampling itself until it is impossible to tell "live" performances from electronic manipulations. Because of its quick-change format, there are plenty of stand-out moments here, although the one which grabs you on first listen is probably Fell's iconoclastic reading of a jazz standard, Here's that Rainy Day, on distorted bass guitar, an instrument which he clearly knows his way around. This is a format which suits Wharf too he creates intelligent textural music as evidenced on the outstanding second version of Crammed with Distressing Brain. This record has a distinct whiff of Zorn about it, in the brevity of each piece and in its use of so unconventional a compositional approach. Like Zorn, Fell is one of the most interesting and consistently successful composers working with improvisers today, and doing the composition after the improvisation is finished is a nice twist which works. He's also a formidable bass player, and anything which he releases is always worth a look. This one happens to be exceptionally good. |
|
ARTISTS
Charles Wharf (clarinet, bass clarinet, soprano sax, tenor sax, keyboards); Simon H. Fell (keyboards, double bass, bass guitar, electronics) |
| See all titles featuring Charles Wharf / Simon H. Fell |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Product Rating:  (0.00) # of Ratings: 0 (Only registered customers can rate)
There are no comments for this product.
|
|
|
|