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.


  Anthony Pateras / Erkki Veltheim 
  The Slow Creep of Convenience
  (Immediata) 


  
   review by Brian Olewnick
  2018-03-20
Anthony Pateras / Erkki Veltheim: The Slow Creep of Convenience (Immediata)

There's drone music and then there's drone music. The Slow Creep of Convenience (the title, along with much else, is discussed in the lengthy conversation between Pateras and Veltheim that's included inq a booklet that comes with the CD) is a 50-minute work for pipe organ (Pateras) and electric violin (Veltheim) which the latter describes as "a formless piece...finding a focus on the present without reference to what's come before or what will come after." The music more or less centers on a given pitch for some period of time � more accurately, around a given pitch � but shifts slightly every so often.

As with all good drone music, the depth and enormity of the revealed layers are what matter, the enormous wealth of tones and timbres that emerge from such a seemingly simple process. The musicians are concerned with developing ripostes to the current environment of hyper-connectedness and the affiliated instant gratification. The latter, of course, falls well within the purview of countless thousands of experimental music works but the aforementioned attempt at formlessness cuts down that number to a relative few. Morton Feldman took a similar tack in his longer works, trying to place each note with reference only to the preceding one and trusting that form would somehow emerge. Using long-held tones, as here, the result is different, refreshingly so. For all the seeming similarity in overall sound, there's a very refreshing quality in play � endless surprise even if the deviation off the pre-existing path is technically minute.

Theoretics aside, this is an absolutely wonderful sound-world in which to get lost: just enough bitterness to negate any vestige of easily digestible flow but more than enough richness of tone to enable listen after listen, always confident that one will hear more. A stunning recording.







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:


Mary Halvorson Amaryllis:
About Ghosts
[VINYL]
(Nonesuch)



Tomeka Reid Quartet (
w/ Roebke/
Halvorson/
Fujiwara):
Dance!
Skip!
Hop!
(Out Of Your Head Records)



Angelika Niescier (
Niescier/
Adasiewicz/
Mitchell/
Reed/
Rempis/
Stewart):
Chicago Tapes
(Intakt)



Chris Abrahams/
Mark Wastell:
Two Thousand
Sacred Steps
(Confront)



Adam O'Farrill (
O'Farrill/
Rogers/
Stinson/
Holzman):
Elephant
(Out Of Your Head Records)



Adam O'Farrill (
O'Farrill/
Rogers/
Stinson/
Holzman):
Elephant
[VINYL]
(Out Of Your Head Records)



Pauline Oliveros/
Mia Masaoka/
Issui Minegishi:
Two Days
In Dreamland
[2 CDs]
(Important Records)



Sylvie Courvoisier
Trio (
w/ Gress/
Wollesen):
Eclats -
Live in Europe
(Intakt)



James Lewis Brandon
Quartet:
Abstraction
Is Deliverance
(Intakt)



AMM (
Prevost/
Rowe/
Tilbury):
Phlegm
(Matchless)



Sam Ospovat/
Expressive Olympics:
Blight Music
(Eclipse Music)



Harriet Tubman (
Ross/
Gibbs/
Lewis) & Georgia Anne Muldrow:
Electrical Field
of Love
(Pi Recordings)



Harriet Tubman (
Ross/
Gibbs/
Lewis) &
Georgia Anne Muldrow:
Electrical Field
of Love
[VINYL]
(Pi Recordings)



Vadim Neselovskyi:
Perseverantia
(Tzadik)



Paul Dunmall Quartet:
Afghan Women
(RogueArt)



John Zorn/
John Medeski Trio:
The Bagatelles
Vol. 8
(Tzadik)



Suspensao:
Something Ancient
Listens Within Us.
The Light
Has Forgotten
Its Name
But Will Remain.
(Creative Sources)



Barry Chabala/
Clara Byom:
Bella's Ghost
(Squid Note Records)



John Zorn/
The Gnostic Trio (
w/ Frisell/
Wollesen/
Emanuel):
Sing Me
Now Asleep
(Tzadik)



John Zorn/
Brian Marsella:
The Bagatelles Vol. 7
(Tzadik)







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. (26464)