The Squid's Ear Magazine


Davies, Angharad / Phil Julian: Neutral Red (Fataka)

At the request of Fataka, amplified violinist Angharad Davies and electronic improviser Phil Julian met at Cate OTO in 2014 & 2018, the two exploiting their distinct approaches to free improvisation to perform these evolving works that ebb and flow in almost hallucinatory intensity while exploring the timbral potential of their unique instrumentation.
 

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product information:

Personnel:



Angharad Davies-amplified violin

Phil Julian-electronics


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Label: Fataka
Catalog ID: 15
Squidco Product Code: 34320

Format: CD
Condition: New
Released: 2023
Country: UK
Packaging: Cardboard Gatefold
Recorded live at Cafe Oto, in London, UK, on June 18th, 2014, and September 2nd, 2018, by Jonathan McHugh and Paul Skinner.

Descriptions, Reviews, &c.

"I asked Angharad Davies and Phil Julian to play together because I thought they shared a certain sensibility: there's a stillness or slowness to what they do, but while the surface may appear smooth there's intense pressure and powerful currents churning below. At their first gig, Phil arrived with a relatively quiet set up, suitable for playing with unamplified acoustic instruments, and was a bit surprised when Angharad turned up and started trying out all of Oto's amplifiers before choosing the biggest dirtiest bass amp available. Phil was able to adapt to the unexpected situation and Angharad didn't just use amplification for increased volume, but also for its extended timbal possibilities, which they explore thoroughly in both sets.

Neutral Red features recordings of their first two (and as far as I'm aware only) duo encounters. I hope there will be more."-Fataka



"When I wrote my review of this stunner for the Wire I didn't have a physical copy of the CD, so I didn't realize that its two pieces had been recorded in 2014 and 2018. It shocked me because this collaboration between violinist Angharad Davies and electronic musician Phil Julian feels like some kind of transmission from a murky future. Julian proves to be a master at providing frequently shifting landscapes-which shouldn't imply placidity or emptiness-for Davies' terse frictive cycles, which mercurially adapt to the changes and form an astonishing kind of feedback loop. Every shift seems to move microscopically, but the interactions move at a deceptively rapid clip. This remains the most psychedelic record of the year for me, a sonic trip that genuinely takes me somewhere new each time."-Peter Margasak, Nowhere Stree



This album has been reviewed on our magazine:

The Squid
The Squid's Ear!

Get additional information at Peter Margasak, Nowhere Stree

Artist Biographies

"Angharad Davies is a violinist, one at ease in both improvising and composition, with a wide discography as part of varied range of ensembles and groups. She's a specialist in the art of 'preparing' her violin, adding objects or materials to it to extend its sound making properties. Her sensitivity to the sonic possibilities of musical situations and attentiveness to their shape and direction make her one of contemporary music's most fascinating figures. 2015 has seen her being commissioned for a new work at the Counterflows Festival, Glasgow and premiering Eliane Radigue's new solo for violin, Occam XXI at the El Nicho Festival, Mexico.

She's performed at, the Queen Elizabeth Hall, BBC Proms, Music We'd Like to Hear's concert series, is an associate artist at Cafe Oto, is a member of Apartment House, Cranc and Common Objects, been artist in residence at Q-02, and played live with Tony Conrad in the Turbine Room at the Tate Modern. Other collaborations have featured the likes of John Butcher, Daniela Cascella, Rhodri Davies, Julia Eckhardt , Kazuko Hohki, Roberta Jean, Lina Lapelyte, Dominic Lash, Tisha Mukarji, Andrea Neumann, Rie Nakajima, Tim Parkinson, J.G.Thirlwell, Stefan Thut, Paul Whitty, Manfred Werder, Birgit Ulher, Taku Unami and she's released records on Absinth Records, Another Timbre, Potlatch and Confrontrecords."

-Angharad Davies Website (http://www.angharaddavies.com/biog.html)
2/12/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.

"Phil Julian is a UK based composer and improviser active since the late 1990's principally working with modular electronic devices and computers.

Audio works by Julian (and under the Cheapmachines alias) have been published on labels including Entr'acte, Banned Production, The Tapeworm, Harbinger Sound, Confront Recordings, Conditional, Staalplaat (Open Circuit imprint), con-v, Beartown Records as well as numerous compilation appearances.

He also runs the Authorised Version label.

Julian has collaborated on remixes, recordings and performances with Tomas Korber, Michael Renkel, Jason Kahn, Daniel Jones, Kostis Kilymis, Tom Mudd, Angharad Davies, John Macedo, Dominic Lash, Dimitra Lazaridou-Chatzigoga, Andie Brown, Dale Cornish, Ryan Jordan, Maurizio Bianchi, Nihilist Assault Group, The New Blockaders and GX Jupitter-Larsen of The Haters as well as being a member of the improvised drone ensemble Signals with Mark Beazley and Chris Gowers and perfroming as part of Mark Wastell's improvising group The Seen."

-Phil Julian Website (http://cmx.org.uk/biography/)
2/12/2025

Have a better biography or biography source? Please Contact Us so that we can update this biography.


Track Listing:



1. NR1 21:08

2. NR2 23:49

Related Categories of Interest:


Free Improvisation
Electro-Acoustic
Electro-Acoustic Improv
Stringed Instruments
Electronic Forms
London & UK Improv & Related Scenes
Duo Recordings

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