The Squid's Ear Magazine


Chang / Davies / Drouin / Durrant / Patterson / Tilbury: Variable Formations (Another Timbre)

A live recording at Cafe Oto in 2013 from this sextet in an extended and dynamic piece in which the musicians develop material they had presented in small groups in the first half of the concert, mixing improvised and prepared elements.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Johnny Chang-viola

Angharad Davies-violin

Jamie Drouin-analogue synthesizer, radio

Phil Durrant-electronics

Lee Patterson-amplified objects, processes

John Tilbury-piano


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Label: Another Timbre
Catalog ID: at67
Squidco Product Code: 18311

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2013
Country: UK
Packaging: Cardstock gatefold foldover
Recorded live at Cafe OTO on February 16th, 2013 by Simon Reynell.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"A live recording of the sextet performance from a Cafe OTO concert in February 2013, 'Variable Formations' is a wonderful extended piece in which the musicians develop material they had presented in small groups in the first half of the concert. A unique mixture of improvised and prepared elements, the piece covers an extraordinary range across its 41 minutes while remaining beautifully cohesive music."-Another Timbre



This album has been reviewed on our magazine:

The Squid
The Squid's Ear!

Artist Biographies

"Berlin-based composer-performer Johnny Chang engages in extended explorations surrounding the relationships of sound/silence and the in-between areas of improvisation, composition, performance and listening. Current collaborations/projects include: Antoine Beuger, Alessandro Bossetti, Lucio Capece, Olivier Di Placido, Jürg Frey, Chris Heenan, Christian Kesten, Annette Krebs, Luke Munn, Koen Nutters, Michael Pisaro, Derek Shirley."

-Johnny Chang Website (https://johnnychchang.wordpress.com/)
4/9/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Angharad Davies is a violinist, one at ease in both improvising and composition, with a wide discography as part of varied range of ensembles and groups. She's a specialist in the art of 'preparing' her violin, adding objects or materials to it to extend its sound making properties. Her sensitivity to the sonic possibilities of musical situations and attentiveness to their shape and direction make her one of contemporary music's most fascinating figures. 2015 has seen her being commissioned for a new work at the Counterflows Festival, Glasgow and premiering Eliane Radigue's new solo for violin, Occam XXI at the El Nicho Festival, Mexico.

She's performed at, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, BBC Proms, Music We'd Like to Hear's concert series, is an associate artist at Cafe Oto, is a member of Apartment House, Cranc and Common Objects, been artist in residence at Q-02, and played live with Tony Conrad in the Turbine Room at the Tate Modern. Other collaborations have featured the likes of John Butcher, Daniela Cascella, Rhodri Davies, Julia Eckhardt , Kazuko Hohki, Roberta Jean, Lina Lapelyte, Dominic Lash, Tisha Mukarji, Andrea Neumann, Rie Nakajima, Tim Parkinson, J.G.Thirlwell, Stefan Thut, Paul Whitty, Manfred Werder, Birgit Ulher, Taku Unami and she's released records on Absinth Records, Another Timbre, Potlatch and Confrontrecords."

-Angharad Davies Website (http://www.angharaddavies.com/biog.html)
4/9/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Jamie Drouin (b.1970) is a Canadian sound artist, composer, and abstract music improviser. His minimalistic works highlight the unique perceptual experiences which emerge from within tightly focused palettes.

Drouin has collaborated with several international artists, including projects with Lucio Capece, Johnny Chang, Crys Cole, Olaf Hochherz, Karl Kliem, Dimitra Lazaridou-Chatzigoga, Hannes Lingens, Yann Novak, Mathieu Ruhlmann, John Tilbury, and Sabine Vogel. He co-founded Infrequency Editions in 2001 with artist Lance Austin Olsen. Together, they have produced numerous collaborative artworks, compositions, and installations. Drouin's electronic music under the name Liquid Transmitter explores the intersections of ambient, abstract, and experimental genres.

Featured at numerous international venues including Deutschlandradio Kultur, Sonica, Henry Art Gallery, Biennial of the Americas, Mutek, TodaysArt. Drouin's projects have also been supported by grants from the Canada Council for the Arts, and the British Columbia Arts Council.

Recent published solo and collaborative audio works are available from Another Timbre, Caduc, Infrequency Editions, Intonema, Liquid Transmitter Bandcamp, Mikroton, Rhizome.s.

Jamie Drouin lives and works in Victoria, BC."

-Jamie Drouin Website (http://jamiedrouin.com/?page_id=4835)
4/9/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Phil Durrant. Born 1957; software synth/sampler, live electronics and acoustic violin.

Phil Durrant studied classical violin and piano at the London College Of Music. Since 1977 he has been a freelance musician, improviser and composer. He has performed at festivals all over Europe, U.S.A and Canada and has had his music broadcast on radio and television in many countries.

Current electronic projects include Ticklish, Secret Measures (with John Butcher), Lunge (with Gail Brand, Pat Thomas and Mark Sanders) and the international electronic orchestra, Mimeo. He also plays violin in Assumed Possibilities (with Chris Burn, Rhodri Davies and Mark Wastell), "Beinhaltung", a trio with Radu Malfatti and Thomas Lehn another trio with Berlin musicians, Burkhard Beins and Ignaz Schick, and the string quartet Quatuor Accorde, with Tony Wren, Charlotte Hug and Mark Wastell. Durrant has also played in the very influential trio with John Butcher and John Russell, as well as the Chris Burn Ensemble.

During his career he has played with many creative and important musicians, including: Derek Bailey, Evan Parker, Grooverider, Shut up and Dance, John Zorn, Phil Minton, and Tom Cora. He has also been awarded various Arts Council grants to research and develop his use of electronics. Two current duo projects - at early 2001 - were: Durrant, violin and software synth/sampler with Wade Matthews, bass clarinet, alto flute; and Durrant software synth/sampler with Mark Sanders drums and sequenced samples.

Phil Durrant has also been collaborating and composing music for a wide variety of choreographers. These include PLastic chill, In the face of a stranger and Deja deux with Maxine Doyle; Salome, Concrete and On stage with Susanne Thomas; Partial site, near view and Delay for five with Gill Clarke; Future perfekt with Ana Sanchez-Colberg; and Borderlander and Home zone with Sophia Lycouris. Salome, Concrete and Partial site, near view were site-specific and involved speaker systems in a number of different rooms. He recently wrote the music for a new play by Nick Sutton called Home movies."

-European Free Improv (EFI) (http://www.efi.group.shef.ac.uk/musician/mdurrant.html)
4/9/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"John Tilbury (born 1 February 1936) is a British pianist. He is considered one of the foremost interpreters of Morton Feldman's music, and since 1980 has been a member of the free improvisation group AMM.

Tilbury studied piano at the Royal College of Music with Arthur Alexander and James Gibb and also with Zbigniew Drzewiecki in Warsaw. 1968 he was the winner of the Gaudeamus competition in the Netherlands.

During the 1960s, Tilbury was closely associated with the composer Cornelius Cardew, whose music he has interpreted and recorded and a member of the Scratch Orchestra. His biography of Cardew, "Cornelius Cardew - A life unfinished" was published in 2008.

Tilbury has also recorded the works of Howard Skempton and John White, among many others, and has also performed adaptations of the radio plays of Samuel Beckett.

With guitarist AMM bandmate Keith Rowe's electroacoustic ensemble M.I.M.E.O., Tilbury recorded The Hands of Caravaggio, inspired by the painter's The Taking of Christ {1602). In this live performance, twelve of the members of M.I.M.E.O. were positioned around the piano in a deliberate echo of Christ's Last Supper. The thirteenth M.I.M.E.O. member (Cor Fuhler) is credited with "inside piano" as he interacted and interfered with Tilbury's playing by manipulating and damping the instrument's strings, essentially doing piano preparation in real time. Critic Brian Olewnick describes the album as "A staggering achievement, one is tempted to call The Hands of Caravaggio the first great piano concerto of the 21st century."

Another notable recent recording of Tilbury's was Duos for Doris (like The Hands of Caravaggio also on Erstwhile Records), a collaboration with Keith Rowe. It is widely considered a landmark recording in the genre of electroacoustic improvisation (or "EAI").

In 2013 he collaborated with artist Armando Lulaj in FIEND performance at the National Theatre of Tirana (Albania)."

-Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Tilbury)
4/9/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. Variable Formations 41:13

Related Categories of Interest:


Improvised Music
Electro-Acoustic
Electro-Acoustic Improv
London & UK Improv & Related Scenes
Sextet Recordings
Objects and Home-made Instruments

Search for other titles on the label:
Another Timbre.


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