Fascinating electro-acoustic improvisation from harpist Rhodri Davies with an open-minded and experimental quartet creating dynamic and unexpected music.
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Sample The Album:
Rhodri Davies-harp, objects
Matthew Davis-trumpet, electronics
Samantha Rebello-flute
Bechir Saade-bass clarinet
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UPC: 5024545492224
Label: Another Timbre
Catalog ID: at04
Squidco Product Code: 8867
Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2007
Country: UK
Packaging: Jewel Tray
Recorded at the Red Rose club, London, England, on June 23rd, 2007.
Hum was recorded at London's Red Rose in June 2007 and re-launches the quest for new expressive methods in that area of EAI which mainly deals with constituents such as air, saliva, friction. The instrumentation - harp & objects, trumpet & electronics, flute and bass clarinet - makes for some pretty damn fine moments of fascinating interaction, with Matt Davis' electronics often constituting an element of menacing doubt amidst a detailed suspension characterized by various types of overtones that peep first, clash later, look for a meeting point somewhere in the middle. "Two" wears the timbral components down to frazzles, giving the music a far-reaching anxiousness standing miles away from self-indulgence, on the contrary taking advantage of the whole dynamic range to explant any hope from whoever expects vibrations of peace and love to edulcorate an improvisation.
It's virtually impossible to quantify the single contributions to the body of the performance, despite the extreme clarity of the recording (courtesy of Graham Halliwell's sapient microphone placing). While breath is obviously a common denominator - although fragmented to minuscule crumbles, oppressive exhalations and guttural snaps - it is when Davies' harp resonates vigorously that the music assumes a totally different weight, transforming the seducing, if somehow acrid gracility of Rebello and Saade's microscopic elaboration into a muscular buzzing torso that David Jackman would almost envy. Tracks like "One" and "Four" bring us back, for long instants, to the golden era of reductionism but the tendencies to silence are soon removed in favour of gentle droning and mechanical tampering in between piercing shrieks and malevolent low-tone resurgences. A distinct urban cloud underlines the seagull-like harmonics heard at the beginning of "Five", scraped strings and scattered noises dematerializing pigmentations and suggestions down to a combustible absence of meaning."-Massimo Ricci, Touching Extremes
Artist Biographies
• Show Bio for Rhodri Davies "Rhodri Davies was born in 1971 in Aberystwyth, Wales and now lives in Gateshead in the northeast of England. He plays harp, electric harp, live-electronics and builds wind, water, ice and fire harp installations. He has released four solo albums: Trem, Over Shadows, Wound Response and An Air Swept Clean of All Distance. His regular groups include: a duo with John Butcher, Common Objects, HEN OGLEDD: Dawson - Davies, a trio with David Toop and Lee Patterson, Cranc, The Sealed Knot and a trio with John Tilbury and Michael Duch. In 2008 he collaborated with the visual artist Gustav Metzger on 'Self-cancellation', a large-scale audio-visual collaboration in London and Glasgow. New pieces for solo harp have been composed for him by: Eliane Radigue, Phill Niblock, Christian Wolff, Ben Patterson, Alison Knowles, Mieko Shiomi and Yasunao Tone. In 2012 he was the recipient of the Foundation for Contemporary Arts, Grants to Artists Award." ^ Hide Bio for Rhodri Davies • Show Bio for Matthew Davis "Matt Davis (born in London in 1970) is an artist working in sound, music and performance living in Bristol. In studying visual art an interest in strategic photography and process based work led Matt to the world of improvised and experimental music and sound art. Attending Community Music in 1995 and completing John Steven's Search and Reflect course, amongst others, he made several connections in the improvised music scene such as with Mark Wastell, Angharad Davies and Rhodri Davies. In 1999 he relocated to Barcelona, joined the IBA collective and 'L'Orquestra IBA' as well as working with the dance company La Sospechosa - a collaboration which lasted many years. On returning to London in 2002 he curated a series of events entitled FIELD designed to unite improvised music and dance. These events, with the support of the Chisenhale Dance Space Artist's Program, eventually became a live-art project investigating notions of space and performance, and were particularly influenced by the work of geographer Doreen Massey who collaborated on the project. He has performed extensively throughout the UK and Europe, as well as touring Japan with Broken Consort in 2003. From 2008-2012 he joined the ensemble Zeitkratzer, and in 2009 moved to Cornwall, where he was a member of the SoN collective and the trio Emlow. He now lives in Bristol." ^ Hide Bio for Matthew Davis
11/20/2024
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
11/20/2024
Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.
Track Listing:
1. 7.12
2. 13.26
3. 8.02
4. 7.17
5. 6.13
Improvised Music
European Improv, Free Jazz & Related
London & UK Improv & Related Scenes
Free Improvisation
Quartet Recordings
Objects and Home-made Instruments
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