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



The Squid's Ear




Heard In

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


  Johnny Chang / Keir GoGwilt / Celeste Oram 
  Hope Lies Fallow
  (Another Timbre) 


  
   review by John Eyles
  2022-11-14
Johnny Chang / Keir GoGwilt / Celeste Oram: Hope Lies Fallow (Another Timbre)

Johnny Chang's name has been preceded by the label "Berlin-based" for years, and he previously lived in Los Angeles, so his New Zealand roots tend to be overlooked. This album should help remedy that. It was recorded at the MacLaurin Chapel, Auckland, in July 2021, some months after Chang had returned to New Zealand; that move also coincided with him refocussing on the violin, his first instrument, after a long period of building his listening around the viola, a shift inspired by his meeting American violinist Keir GoGwilt who was on a year-long visit to the country. The two connected and in February 2021 began meeting every week to play together.

Although each of the two is credited as composing three of the album's six tracks, the pieces were actually collaborations arising from their weekly meetings; furthermore, in those meetings they explored medieval and renaissance music by such composers as Orlando di Lasso and Hildegard Von Bingen and plainsong from the Cantigas de Santa Maria. As their studies explored imaginative and expressive ways of re-approaching such historical music, it seems proper that Chang and GoGwilt are credited as the composers of the end products rather than the original composers. In that regard, this music is similar to some of Marcus Granberg's for which he employs older tunes as inspiration without plagiarism.

The opening three tracks, which total just over twenty-seven minutes, feature the two violinists together but never both playing the same line; throughout, the lines they play fit together and complement each other perfectly, suggesting that they were developed by the pair during those weekly meetings. The music sounds contemporary enough that a blindfold listener would be doing well to identify its original composers. In an inspired move, the album's closing three tracks, totalling forty-seven-and-a-half minutes, add the voice of GoGwilt's partner composer Celeste Oram alongside the violins. Her voice is never to the fore or intrusive, yet her subtle vocals expand and soften the soundscape while being an ideal complement to the violins. Should Chang and GoGwilt consider recording together again, the inclusion of Oram would be an obvious choice. Meanwhile, as a whole this is a beguiling album which stands up well to repeated listening.







Comments and Feedback:



More Recent Reviews, Articles, and Interviews @ The Squid's Ear...


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

Squidco

Recent Selections @ Squidco:


Impro-Viziok 2.2.:
Anna (
The Music Of
Szilard Mezei)
(FMR)



John Butcher/
Ute Wassermann/
Martin Blume:
Leaflight:
Close Calls
(FMR)



Oakland Reductionist
Orchestra:
West And East
Baying
(Queen Bee Records)



Bucher/
Tan/
Countryman:
Nonlinear Expressions
(FMR)



Le UN (
Agnel/
Battus/
Chiesa/
Doneda/
Gauget/
Marchetti/
Petit):
Le Havre
[VINYL + CD]
(UnRec)



Patricia Brennan:
Of The Near And Far
(Pyroclastic Records)



Maria Valencia/
Matt Moran/
Brandon Lopez:
Tarabita Espiral
(Relative Pitch)



Zeena Parkins/
Cecilia Lopez:
Redshifts
(Relative Pitch)



Berlinde Deman:
Plank 9
(Relative Pitch)



Taborn/
Cline/
Gilmore:
Trio of Bloom
(Pyroclastic Records)



Eri Yamamoto/
Matthew Shipp:
Horizon
(Mahakala Music)



Pierre Favre/
Sergio Armaroli/
Andrea Centazzo/
Francesca Gemmo:
The Art Of Sound(s) (
first visit)
(ezz-thetics by
Hat Hut Records
Ltd)



Francesca Gemmo/
Magda Mayas:
Tides In The Mirror (
first visit)
(ezz-thetics by
Hat Hut Records
Ltd)



John Edwards/
Luis Vicente/
Vasco Trilla:
Choreography of Fractures
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Joe Morris/
Peter Evans/
Tyshawn Sorey:
Comprehensive
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Ray Anderson/
Joe Hertenstein Quartet feat. Michael Moore/
Michael Formanek:
7th Dinner Live
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Marc Sabat:
Bach Tunings
(Another Timbre)



Magnus Granberg /
Skogen:
The Willow Bends
And So Do I
(Another Timbre)



The Necks:
Disquiet
[3 CDs]
(Northern Spy)



Jason Hwang Kao:
Myths of Origin
(True Sound Recordings)







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. (6825)