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



The Squid's Ear
Facebook: Squidco Sales

Heard In

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


  IKB 
  Apteryx Mantelli
  (Creative Sources) 


  
   review by Paul Serralheiro
  2018-10-08
IKB: Apteryx Mantelli (Creative Sources)

It seems strange to name an album after a New Zealand Kiwi bird, but strange is a good thing in improvised music, where we expect the unexpected. And this electro-acoustic ensemble delivers, although not surprisingly, given the Creative Sources label's consistent catalog that features improvisation of the sensitive and close-listening variety. This is also apparently part of a series of albums using taxonomic Latin animal names and after some close listening the choice of a bird seems wholly appropriate.

At 34:22, this is not a marathon session by any means but this long piece recorded live at the O'Culto da Ajuda, in Lisbon, Portugal in 2017 sounds and develops much like a symphony. The venue is devoted to experimental music and, judging by the results, the acoustics are conducive for this kind of slowly developing, dynamically wide-ranging improvisational compositional concept.

Led by violist Ernesto Rodrigues, the 16-piece ensemble balances sounds by strings (violin, viola, cello, bass, guitar, zither, piano, psaltery), brass (euphonium, trumpet, trombone, trumpet), winds (oboe, flute, bass clarinet, alto saxophone), percussion and electronics via a laptop computer. The aesthetic here is of a slowly moving flock of sounds, coalescing in the ether, never one dominating and the whole being more than a sum of its parts.

The music is shaped by the instrumental interactions, as the leading ideas and responses of members of the ensemble cohere and disperse in the air like bird sounds — hence the aptly titled album's reference to the Apteryx Mantelli, which Wikipedia tells us "has demonstrated a remarkable resilience: it has adapted to live on scrub-like farm land, pine plantations, and their native forests, but it still prefers dense, sub-tropical and temperate forest." This imagery is entirely relevant, as it seems this music evokes a sympathetic imaginative response for attentive listeners and the music that evolves over the 34:22 is like a living, sentient being.



IKB: Apteryx Mantelli
Is Sold at Squidco!
Squidco




Comments and Feedback:



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

Squidco

Recent Selections @ Squidco:


Berlin Art Quartet (
Schubert /
Bauer /
Muller /
Bruggemann):
Live At MIM
(Unisono Records)



Jimmy Lyons:
Rivbea Live! Series,
Volume 3
(NoBusiness)



Erik Klinga:
Elusive Shimmer
(thanatosis produktion)



Das B (
Mazen Kerbaj /
Mike Majkowski /
Magda Mayas /
Tony Buck):
Love
(thanatosis produktion /
Corbett Vs Dempsey)



Brass Clouds:
Escape Vessels
(Bathysphere Records)



Fire! Orchestra:
Echoes
[2 CDs]
(Rune Grammofon)



Sophie Agnel /
John Edwards /
Steve Noble:
Three On A Match
(Otoroku)



Satoko Fujii
This is It! (
w/
Natsuki Tamura /
Takashi Itani):
Message
(Libra)



Sorry For Laughing (
G. Whitlow /
M. Bates /
Dave-Id /
E. Ka-Spel):
Rain Flowers
[2 CDS]
(Klanggalerie)



New Origin (
feat. Christoph Rocher /
Joe Fonda /
Harvey Sorge):
The Poet Walks
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Simon Nabatov:
Agree to Disagree
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Von Schlippenbach, Alexander /
Barry Altschul Quartet w/
Joe Fonda &
Rudi Mahal:
Free Flow
[2 CDs]
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Thelonious Monk with
Sonny Rollins:
1953 To 1957
Revisited
(ezz-thetics by
Hat Hut Records
Ltd)



Daniel Carter /
Ayumi Ishito /
George Draguns /
Ed Wilcox:
Makeshift Spirituals
(577 Records)



Kory Reeder:
Homestead
(Another Timbre)



John Cage:
Chamber Works 1943-1951
(Another Timbre)



Josh Sinton:
Couloir &
Book Of Practitioners
Vol. 2
Book "W"
[2 CDs]
(FiP recordings)



Elliott Sharp /
Scott Fields:
Reimsi Geara
(Relative Pitch)



KnCurrent (
Brennan /
Cooper-Moore /
Davis /
Hwang):
KnCurrent
(Deep Dish)



Biota:
Measured Not Found
(Recommended Records)







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. (39058)