The Squid's Ear
Writing about improvised, contemporary, experimental and unusual music,
following the activities of Squidco...
  •  •  •     Join Our Mailing List!



The Squid's Ear




Heard In

Reviews of artist releases:
cd's, books, magazines, &c.


  John Franek 
  about the color of the moon
  (Edition Wandelweiser) 


  
   review by Brian Olewnick
  2022-12-22
John Franek: about the color of the moon (Edition Wandelweiser)

On this release, Franek performs four of his own compositions for organ and electronics. No other information is provided either on the disc sleeve or label site. Unlike label-mate Eva Maria Houben, it seems that the organ utilized is not of the older church variety, though given the ambiguous term, electronics, I guess it's difficult to say. re: that term, one picks up sine-like aspects that presumably derive therefrom, tones that tend to predominate over "typical" organ sounds.

The pieces range from about twelve to nineteen minutes and are pretty much steady-state, continuous sets of fluctuating tones. "Drones" seems to be the wrong term as they tend toward the transparent, without much in the way of grain, darkness or rumble. "in all the cold", the opener, shifts tonality over its course, from mellifluous to slightly sour, Franek adding in some textural sounds toward the end that evoke a distant, gradually shutting down motor-very effective. "as lapis" begins with high, feathery sine tones reminiscent of some of Lucier's hyperbola pieces. The tones splay out, differentiate and overlap producing the inevitable but always satisfying beats. "like wet stones" incorporates a bit of the perpetually rising tones listeners perhaps know from James Tenney's 'For Ann Rising'. The tonality is smoother, even "spacier", before it levels out into a rapidly percolating, slight harsh wash of sound. Finally, "mountains of night" uses as a base sound a kind of hollow howling, like a strong wind honed down to its essence, coursing through a resonant chamber. As with the other works, it mutates gradually over time, here morphing into a higher pitch range, very ethereal.

Franek limits his palette and exercises good restraint here, carving out some very attractive work. Not as "natural" as Houben, but fans of her music might find something to enjoy here.







Comments and Feedback:



More Recent Reviews, Articles, and Interviews @ The Squid's Ear...


The Squid's Ear presents
reviews about releases
sold at Squidco.com
written by
independent writers.

Squidco

Recent Selections @ Squidco:


Jason Kahn/
Phil Durrant/
Mark Wastell/
Caius Williams:
Where The Stars
(Editions)



The Tony Williams Emergency
w/ John McLaughlin/
Larry Young:
Emergency!
(ALAY)



Vienna FLAMMeS (
Koglmann/
Schiske/
Donhauser/
Buhlmann/
Mautner/
Rohrer):
He Said Boler o'
(ALAY)



Ballister
+
Luke Stewart:
Clocking the Wheel
(Aerophonic)



Duke Ellington Orchestra:
From Fargo Live 1940
(ALAY)



Camila Nebbia/
Chris Corsano:
Six or Seven Ways
owards Becoming Undone
(Relative Pitch)



Hilary Jeffery (
w/ Delius/
Dunmall/
Jeffery/
Poulou):
Green Prism:
Music by Keith Tippett
(Discus)



Paul Dunmall:
Afraid To Speak
(Discus)



Gerry Hemingway/
Izumi Kimura/
Frank Gratkowski/
Christian Weber:
Live At Bau 4
(ezz-thetics by Hat Hut Records Ltd)



Albert Ayler:
Reference: Albert Ayler
Spirits
&
Spirits Rejoice
[CD + POSTCARD]
(ALAY)



Marion Brown/
Burton Greene Quartet:
Reference:
Capricorn Moon,
Why Not &
With Burton Greene Quartet
[2 CDs + POSTCARD]
(ALAY)



The Remote Viewers:
Winter Library
Vol 1
(Remote Viewers)



Miles Davis 3rd Quintet:
Reference: Bitches Brew
Live 1969
In Europe
[2 CDs + 2 POSTCARDS]
(ALAY)



Doyeon Kim (
w/
Sorey/
Maneri/
Fraser):
Wellspring
(Tao Forms)



Jurg Frey/
Apartment House:
Clarinet Quintet
(Another Timbre)



Tom Challenger/
Evan Parker:
May Spring Last a Lifetime
(False Walls)



Bobby Bradford/
Mark Dresser/
Hafez Modirzadeh:
Sonic House Reunion
(NoBusiness)



John Zorn (
w/ Julian Lage/
Gavin Riley):
Seven Sonnets
(Tzadik)



[ahmed] (
Thomas/
Grip/
Gerbal/
Wright):
Play Monk
[2 CDs]
(Otoroku)



Michael Formanek (
w/ Hawkins/
Halvorson/
Fujiwara/
O'Gallagher/
Doxas/
Almeida):
New Digs
(Intakt)







Squidco
Click here to
advertise with
The Squid's Ear






The Squid's Ear pays its writers.
Interested in becoming a reviewer?




The Squid's Ear is the companion magazine to the online music shop Squidco !


  Copyright © Squidco. All rights reserved. Trademarks. (24276)