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.


  Sage J Harlow 
  Variations Without A Theme (Drones Ongs)
  (Edition Wandelweiser) 


  
   review by Brian Olewnick
  2023-01-25
Sage J Harlow: Variations Without A Theme (Drones Ongs) (Edition Wandelweiser)

Sage J Harlow is an Australian musician who often performs under the name, Sage Pbbbt. This is a set of four pieces between 18 and 20 minutes long, performed by a septet of Jameson Feakes (guitar), Dan O'Connor (trumpet), Oz Kesik (synthesizer), Djuna Lee (double bass), Josten Myburgh (alto saxophone), Pbbbt (voices) and Saskia Willinge (flute). An inscription on the sleeve reads, "this album was created on the unceeded [sic] lands of the whadjuk people of the noongar nation. the artists pay their respects to the whadjuk people and their elders".

Even without the note, it wouldn't have been difficult for the listener to conjure up visions of the Outback during the opening track, 'one; two'. Softly percolating wind and percussion sounds exist in a steady but active state, the saxophone or low flute perhaps evoking the classic didjeridoo breathiness while the rest elicit (without being at all imitative) various noises one can easily imagine hearing during a desert night. 'morphing' concentrates on flutes, low vocals and sandy textures, again in a kind of drone atmosphere, but varying in density and graininess. Here as elsewhere, the ensemble sometimes skirts the line between a nice sense of suspension and a bit too much inaction; it's a tough balance. Similarly with 'distance' � different textures, but the same general approach and the closing work, 'inverse', treads the same ground. This may well be in keeping with the aural traditions of the Whadjuk people and evoke a feeling of commiseration with their persecution and colonization (which have been terrible) and the listener may feel this is enough. To these ears, however, as ingratiating as a given segment of the music may be, I wanted to hear either more engagement with the culture and/or land or a more complete abandonment to it.







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:


Don Cherry (
w/ Walcott/
Thomas):
Sunrise (
1977)
[VINYL 2 LPs]
(WeWantSounds)



Don Cherry (
w/ Walcott/
Thomas):
Sunrise (
1977)
(WeWantSounds)



Satoko Fujii's Orchestra Tokyo:
Kappa Ondo
[2 CDs]
(Libra)



Sunny Murray/
Arthur Doyle/
Rasul Siddik:
New Light
[VINYL]
(NoBusiness)



Sunny Murray/
Arthur Doyle/
Rasul Siddik:
Incantations
(NoBusiness)



Sunny Murray/
Arthur Doyle/
Rasul Siddik:
Incantations
[VINYL]
(NoBusiness)



Brandon Seabrook (
w/ Frisell/
Carter/
Gilmore):
Utility Modern
(Out Of Your Head Records)



Threadgill Zooid, Henry:
Cut You Where
You Was
(Pi Recordings)



Henry Threadgill Zooid:
Cut You
Where You Was
[VINYL]
(Pi Recordings)



Rempis/
Abrams/
Ra + Baker:
The Walls of
the Temple
Are Made of Sound
[2 CDs]
(Aerophonic)



Rova (
Ackley/
Adam/
Ochs/
Raskin):
Those Who...
(ESP)



Michael Thieke/
Luigi Marino:
For The Skylarks
[CASSETTE w/ DONLOAD]
(Emergent Idioms)



Jason Hwang Kao/
Human Rites Trio (
w/ Drury/
Filiano):
Second Life
(True Sound Recordings)



Wadada Smith Leo (
Courvoisier/
Laswell/
Gibbs/
akLaff/
&c.):
Constellations
And
Hemispheres
(Burning Ambulance Music)



Casserley/
Marzan/
Van Schouwburg/
Wachsmann:
Being
(Bead)



Gebhard Ullmann (
w/ Steve Swell/
Joe Morris/
Charles Downs):
Coffee And Berries
(ESP Disk)



Gottliche Skizzen (
Delazer/
Delius/
Obleser):
Ringi Ringd Coint
(ezz-thetics now)



Sonelius Smith/
Adam Kahan:
We'll Let You Know
When We Find Out
[VINYL]
(577 Records)



Sophie Hassfurther:
Kaleidoscope -
Empathy
(ezz-thetics now)



Airlift (
Diehl/
Lowery/
Lawson/
Levin/
Lavelle/
Hotep/
Marquez/
Dennis):
Spatial Recognition
[2 CDs]
(577 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. (15820)