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.


  Fred Frith 
  Impur II
  (Recommended Records) 


  
   review by Jeph Jerman
  2010-06-02
Fred Frith: Impur II (Recommended Records)

The second half of a composition commissioned by l'Ecole Nationale Musique de Villeurbanne for the final concert of a two-year residency from 1994-1996. The first part of the performance consisted of the occupation of every room of the music building by different ensembles all playing at the same time. This disc documents the second part of that performance, given in the concert hall without informing anyone. The audience simply wandered in during the course of exploring the other rooms full of music, (though the recording here is a recreation of said event).

The piece is a large slice of everything Frithian played by a 19-member orchestra conducted by Frith. We get all that's expected � explosions of free dissonance, oddly insistent rhythms, folk-like melodies and lots of humor. Some passages fly by in an instant while others linger and build through written melodies or well-played solos. Rhythms give way to atmospherics, which give way to chaos out of which arise new themes or ideas, and even though a lot of it seems familiar, the voicings and individual personalities of the various players serve to make it all new. I would single out the drummer Denis Mariotte and the guitar soloist, Fred Smith as being especially impressive, though all the players are obviously top-notch, or at least somewhere near there.







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:


Marty Ehrlich:
OPEN AIR: The Complete
Saxophone Quartet Compositions of
Julius Hemphill
[2CDs]
(Out Of Your Head
Records)



Fred Frith/
Cornelius Claudio Kreusch/
Johannes Tonio Kreusch:
Pink/
Neon
[2 CDs]
(Galileo Music Communication )



Fred Frith/
Cornelius Claudio Kreusch/
Johannes Tonio Kreusch:
Pink/
Neon
[VINYL 2 LPs]
(Galileo Music Communication )



Tyshawn Sorey/
Pat Thomas:
Red Sulphur
(Otoroku)



Frank Trompeter/
Richard Gilman-Opalsky:
Antifascist Freedom Music
(Mahakala Music)



Sei Miguel:
Viva!
O Carro de Fogo
de Sei Miguel
[2 CDs]
(Clean Feed)



Mikolaj Trzaska/
John Edwards/
Mark Sanders:
Because It Happens
[VINYL]
(gusstaff records)



Enso (
Benjamin Dwyer/
Rafal Mazur/
Ramon Lopez):
Rhizoming
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)



Joe Morris/
Rob Brown/
Anna Webber/
Matthew Rousseaux:
Counter Spectacle
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)



B:A:N:S BAND (
Sophie Agnel/
John Butcher/
Pascal Niggenkemper/
Stale Liavik Solberg):
Foam & Mesh
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)



Golding/
Brice/
Prevost:
High Laver Levitations
Vol 4:
Sound-Out -
jazz is dead,
long live jazz
(Matchless)



Angles 4 (
Kuchen/
Haker-Flaten/
Stahl/
Nordeson):
Angles 4
[CD + DOWNLOAD]
(Relative Pitch)



Glass Triangle (
Parkins/
Rasmussen/
Sawyer):
3 X 1
[CD + DOWNLOAD]
(Relative Pitch)



Lao Dan Chicago Quartet:
Klotski
(Trost Records)



Lao Dan Chicago Quartet:
Klotski
[VINYL]
(Trost Records)



Nick Mazzarella:
Siena Sessions
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)



Hartmut Geerken/
Chris Trent:
Omniverse Sun Ra (
Expanded And
Revised 3rd Edition:
2026)
[BOOK]
(Art Yard)



Sonic Fiction Special (
Gratkowski/
Strobl/
Graewe/
Hemingway) feat. Earl Howard:
Banding Patterns
(Random Acoustics)



Schlippenbach Trio:
Elf Bagatellen
[DOUBLE VINYL]
(Cien Fuegos)



Verona Sextet (
Armaroli/
Buck/
Gemmo/
Mayas/
Piccolo/
Sharp):
Leap And Bounds
(ezz-thetics by
Hat Hut Records
Ltd)







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. (18277)