Although he might be better known for mining noise and dark, electric ambience, violinist Eyvind Kang has a strong voice as a composer – an unusual composer to be sure, but an effective and varied one. His new disc puts a spin on his previous folkloric fantasias (notably The Story of Iceland, 2000, Tzadik, and his work with the kings of ethnic conceit, the Sun City Girls). Parts of Virginal Coordinates, particularly the nearly 20-minute “Doorway to the Sun,” are so delicately beautiful that he can’t be denied as a serious composer. But Kang doesn’t seem to be asking to be considered as such. He uses Mike Patton (sans screams and effects) to deliver some symphonic pop nearly worthy of Pink Floyd or the Moody Blues; on the aforementioned track, he builds masterfully from a simple string section, laying a song reminiscent of “Astronomy Domine” on top and then adding soft horns and a clarinet filigree that could have been lifted from John Lurie’s songbook, all without losing the opening simplicity. Which isn’t to label it as a derivative mishmash; in fact, it’s something of a marvel.
The piece – commissioned by the Angelica Festival Internazionale di Musica in Bologna and recorded live during the festival with the 16-piece ensemble Playground, guitarist Tim Young and violinist Michael White (formerly of the Sun Ra Arkestra) – is sweeping in its implied narrative. It works (and this is a best guess) because Kang does what he wants. He is, from all audio appearances, chasing a muse, and so it frankly doesn’t matter if it all makes sense. And that’s the real strength of the record. If it doesn’t quite make sense, it’s still not higgledy-piggledy. Virginal Coordinates comes through with something to say. It’s the best kind of record: It makes sense from beginning to end, but a sense the sort of which has never quite been
made before.
Virginal Coordinates is also in part a pop record despite its complexities, if only because pop borrows more lovingly from itself than more “serious” forms of music. Kang’s dreamscape creates a feeling of familiarity and invites comparisons, which by no means detracts from his own statement. It’s a great record and a notable accomplishment.
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