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
Facebook: Squidco Sales

Heard In

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


  Anders Dahl & Skogen 
  Rows
  (Another Timbre) 


  
   review by Kurt Gottschalk
  2014-05-28
Anders Dahl & Skogen: Rows (Another Timbre)

There's a certain sort of cracks of late between which some interesting music has been falling, the cracks perhaps being AMM and Christian Wolff, which indeed are no cracks at all as the latter was at one time a member of the former but nevertheless a new stripe in the vagaries of minimalist composition and improvisation, something we might (or might not) choose to call "chamber EAI," seems to have emerged (or been emerging). Such recordings as Varianter av Døde Trær (by the quartet of Tetuzi Akiyama, Martin Taxt. Eivind Lønning and Espen Reinertsen) and In Search of Wild Tulips (by Akiyama, Eric Carlsson, Toshimaru Nakamura and Henrik Olsson) come to mind, as well as the work of Icelandic composer Anna Thorvaldsdottir as efforts that suggest a greater structural integrity, more forethought perhaps, than pure improvisation.

Such is certainly the case with Rows, an album of short compositions by Anders Dahl performed with composer Magnus Granberg's largely acoustic septet Skogen, which includes Nakamura and Olsson as members. The nine pieces here (ranging from two to eight minutes) are strict 12 tone row compositions following Schoenberg's notion of not repeating a note in the scale until all have been played although register and duration aren't specified in the score. As a result, a sort of unity of purpose is discernible in the playing at the same time as an inviting feeling of spontaneity.

In practice this isn't wildly different from the work of Wolff, Cage, Cardew or others, and Dahl may not be claiming to have conquered new worlds. But the playing here is quite lovely. The ensemble (two violins, sho, clarinet, piano, bowls and glasses, and two electronicists, with Carlsson's percussion added on two tracks) is warm and airy and, under Dahl's cues, imminently listenable.



Anders Dahl & Skogen: Rows
Is Sold at Squidco!
Squidco




Comments and Feedback:



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

Squidco

Recent Selections @ Squidco:


Berlin Art Quartet (
Schubert /
Bauer /
Muller /
Bruggemann):
Live At MIM
(Unisono Records)



Jimmy Lyons:
Rivbea Live! Series,
Volume 3
(NoBusiness)



Erik Klinga:
Elusive Shimmer
(thanatosis produktion)



Das B (
Mazen Kerbaj /
Mike Majkowski /
Magda Mayas /
Tony Buck):
Love
(thanatosis produktion /
Corbett Vs Dempsey)



Brass Clouds:
Escape Vessels
(Bathysphere Records)



Fire! Orchestra:
Echoes
[2 CDs]
(Rune Grammofon)



Sophie Agnel /
John Edwards /
Steve Noble:
Three On A Match
(Otoroku)



Satoko Fujii
This is It! (
w/
Natsuki Tamura /
Takashi Itani):
Message
(Libra)



Sorry For Laughing (
G. Whitlow /
M. Bates /
Dave-Id /
E. Ka-Spel):
Rain Flowers
[2 CDS]
(Klanggalerie)



New Origin (
feat. Christoph Rocher /
Joe Fonda /
Harvey Sorge):
The Poet Walks
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Simon Nabatov:
Agree to Disagree
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Von Schlippenbach, Alexander /
Barry Altschul Quartet w/
Joe Fonda &
Rudi Mahal:
Free Flow
[2 CDs]
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Thelonious Monk with
Sonny Rollins:
1953 To 1957
Revisited
(ezz-thetics by
Hat Hut Records
Ltd)



Daniel Carter /
Ayumi Ishito /
George Draguns /
Ed Wilcox:
Makeshift Spirituals
(577 Records)



Kory Reeder:
Homestead
(Another Timbre)



John Cage:
Chamber Works 1943-1951
(Another Timbre)



Josh Sinton:
Couloir &
Book Of Practitioners
Vol. 2
Book "W"
[2 CDs]
(FiP recordings)



Elliott Sharp /
Scott Fields:
Reimsi Geara
(Relative Pitch)



KnCurrent (
Brennan /
Cooper-Moore /
Davis /
Hwang):
KnCurrent
(Deep Dish)



Biota:
Measured Not Found
(Recommended 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. (41918)