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sound/music CD reviews


 Da Contents H2

May 1 2013
Jon Rose
Rosin

April 3 2013
zephyr quartet
a rain from the shadows

July 17 2012
the wired lab
wired open day 2009

May 22 2012
ros bandt, johannes s sistermanns
tracings

March 20 2012
new weird australia editions: thomas williams vs scissor lock, spartak
jewelz & nippon

October 25 2011
avantwhatever label collection
gulbenkoglu gorfinkel; ben byrne; alex white; ivan lysiak

May 24 2011
decibel
disintegration: mutation

May 10 2011
blip (jim denley, mike majkowksi)
calibrated

various
listen to the weather

March 22 2011
topology
difference engine

November 22 2010
various
artefacts of australian experimental music volume II 1974-1983

September 20 2010
clocked out
the wide alley

September 7 2010
clocked out
foreign objects

August 23 2010
matt chaumont
linea

July 26 2010
sky needle
time hammer

May 10 2010
mike majkowski
ink on paper

November 6 2009
various
new weird australia vols 1 & 2

October 26 2009
clare cooper & chris abrahams
germ studies

July 17 2009
erdem helvacioglu
wounded breath

rice corpse
mrs rice

April 28 2009
james rushford
vellus

joel stern
objects, masks, props

January 22 2009
loren chasse
the footpath

mark cauvin
transfiguration

December 12 2007
the splinter orchestra
self-titled

October 24 2007
various
artefacts of australian experimental music 1930-1973

August 28 2007
jouissance
akathistos fragments

pateras/baxter/brown
gauticle

various artists produced by le tuan hung; dindy vaughan
on the wings of a butterfly: cross-cultural music by australian composers; up the creek

May 1 2006
ai yamamoto
euphonious

camilla hannan
more songs about factories

found: quantity of sheep
monkey+valve

philip brophy
aurévélateur

rod cooper
friction

December 1 2005
anthony pateras
mutant theatre

December 1 2005
charlie charlie & will guthrie
la respiration des saintes & building blocks

dj olive
buoy

hinterlandt
new belief system

jodi rose & guest artists
singing bridges: vibrations/variations

lawrence english
transit

lawrence english
ghost towns

michael j schumacher
room pieces

robin fox
backscatter dvd

tarab
surfacedrift

the necks
mosquito/see through

tim o'dwyer
multiple repeat

toydeath
guns, cars & guitars

warp: various artists
warp vision: the videos 1989-2004

zane trow
for those who hear actual voices

 

CD
www.topologymusic.com
Topology, Difference Engine Topology, Difference Engine

Topology members must the happiest people—this is fun music that lifts your spirits. But it’s music with real depth. Difference Engine is a CD for entertainment and contemplation. Though newly released, the works in this compilation date from 1997–2003 and presumably the ensemble has thoroughly road-tested them—the superb playing evinces the musicians’ total familiarity with and immersion in the material.

All but one of the four works was written by ensemble members, the other being by Lynette Lancini, whose four-movement Centaur (2000) opens the disc. Three of the movements are named after gemstones and one after a flower, and the titles are intended to reflect their character. Obsidian opens with a rapid motoric theme that dramatically slows before returning to a stabbing pace. Jasper starts dreamily, with a steady piano ostinato threading through, blending lovely violin, viola, bowed bass, piano and sax lines that build in earnestness. The brief but evocative Heliotrope (the purple flower of mourning) begins with suitably mournful strings and sax over a steady bass, jumps to an up-tempo, angular fugue-like passage and then just as abruptly slows again, concluding with a soulful piano finale. Sapphire, the longest and most involving movement, opens with a jaunty folk-like riff on strings threaded with sweet soprano sax. Slowing to a gentle stroll, it develops increasing textural complexity and builds to an evocative crescendo. This 23-minute suite traverses much compositional and emotional territory —great writing that bears repeated listening.

Saxophonist John Babbage’s 2003 work φX174 (named, we are told, after the first-ever completely mapped genome of any organism) starts with offbeat, rhythmic strings and piano from which a lovely slow violin line develops, shifts to a rapid motoric form and then returns to a gentle stepping pace. The CD liner notes suggest the musical material is a representation of the DNA code, but it sounds fresh and energetic rather than overly calculated.

Bassist Robert Davidson’s 1997 Exterior (in two movements) is an excerpt from his much longer Four Places, and the ensemble includes Ron Colbers guesting on djembe, adding a very different feel to the music. The driving offbeat opening is followed by a mellifluous sax solo that segues into a hypnotic viola solo supported by bowed bass before returning to the opening theme. The work alternates forceful, rhythmic movement with wistful introspection as it unfolds. My favourite on this CD, Exterior evidently involves much improvisation, but feels carefully structured. Bernard Hoey is superb on viola.

The final work, Babbage’s 2001 Difference Engine, is in three movements: the first is arrhythmic and dissonant, the second begins brightly then slows, and the short third movement opens slowly and quizzically and concludes with a few brief piano figures that hauntingly die away under the pedal. The title refers to the calculating machine designed two centuries ago by the (unrelated) mathematician Charles Babbage—another musical metaphor for a scientific milestone, though you wouldn’t guess it without the liner notes. The work sounds expressionistic and is evidently based on the space between notes as measured in distance rather than time, yielding a series of “differences.'

These compositions sound as if they have grown out of experiments that have resolved themselves into a style. If this music had its roots in minimalism, it has evolved into something far more complex—a repetitive motif might be overlayed with a long, seductive melody; there are sudden shifts in tempo and dynamics, leading instruments swap roles, and there are multiple competing lines and tempi. Conlon Nancarrow and Frank Zappa leap to mind. The power in these compositions lies in their interweaving, polyphonic lines that create enchanting textures, and their bouncy energy. The style shifts though jazz syncopations, rock and other forms, and the mood alternates forceful statement with gentle crooning. Any mathematical dryness is offset by the rich tone colour and developmental peaks that tease the attention. Free of gimmicks, this music is lush, infectious, upbeat and accessible, yielding tunes that pop into your mind all day, but it’s also seriously demanding and rewarding, a difficult balance but well achieved. There is scope for solo virtuosity, but mostly this music requires and enables brilliant ensemble playing, which Topology delivers effortlessly.

This long-established five-piece has made its name through finding new musical territory that draws many flavours into a unique mix. Given their previous forays into everything from classical chamber works to pop, comedy and funk, Difference Engine seems very straight but it’s a superbly crafted and very satisfying CD.

Chris Reid

© Chris Reid; for permission to reproduce apply to [email protected]

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