Al Margolis' If Bwana has a 20 year history, releasing material starting in the mid 80's, with full length releases on Generations Unlimited, Anckarström and Margolis' own Pogus label, while appearing on numerous compilations. This release features two sides to Margolis, with roughly half the material representing solo work, and the other half in larger group settings.
Margolis creates somber and dark works, seductive twilight pieces of a post-industrial nature. The first two pieces of the release are Margolis alone, working with samples, tapes, loops and sounds. "Natraj" is a short-wave nightmare of shifting high-pitched tones, a dark and ominous piece with an intoning drum deeply keeping time. "Frog Field" is a slow deep vibraphone piece, atmospheric and moody.
"Oy vey, Angie" add the Orchestra D'Fou into the mix, an organization formed to back George Maras' electronic video puppet opera "The 23rd Toad," first presented at the Deep Listening Foundation in 2002. With instrumentation of trombones, cello, "bikelophone," organ, guitar, etc., this group is more interested in the murky underside of their instruments. The extended piece has a ringing undertone that reminds one of Ligetti's atomospheric buildups. "Cicada #5: Version Bohman" is another resonant piece with vocal and instrumental fragments as Margolis Dan and Detta Andreana perform the talking tapes of Adam Bohman. The piece has a sinister quality despite such inane topics as a description of breakfast. "Quaderni" ends the album, building subtley as Biagi gasps her way into the piece, adding eerie whispers and nuance.
As tone pieces this release functions extremely well, with Margolis' use of effects congruous to his compositions. Nothing reaches out and grabs the listener directly, but instead creates a consistent mood of recessed shifting sound and complex ideas in a despondent spirit, perhaps a reflection of the times we live in.
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