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.


  subterrene 
  Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been
  (Bad Architect) 


  
   review by Jeph Jerman
  2018-03-27
subterrene: Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been (Bad Architect)

Active since 2006, Subterrene is helmed by one Grant Stewart. On this short E.P. he gives us five miniature dronescapes that unfold slowly to reveal multiple layers. It sounds perhaps like it's constructed of loops with the edges blurred or frayed, sliding atop one another.

During the first two pieces ("gulf" and "variable 1"), there is a prevalence of metallic timbre, not unlike endlessly ringing gongs or bells, with an undercurrent of gauzy rumbling. "On a dark river" has an odd collection of notes, almost carnivalesque, repeating, supplanted intermittently by a cloud of metals. At louder volumes, a wealth of overtones are audible giving one plenty to focus the ears on.

These vignettes bridge the cavernous gap between noise and ambient drone, all but the final piece beginning with somewhat harsh sounds. "Haunted, ghosting" closes out the disc with far-off church bells heard through layers of thick fog, a memory of cold Sundays in winter.







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:


Impro-Viziok 2.2.:
Anna (
The Music Of
Szilard Mezei)
(FMR)



John Butcher/
Ute Wassermann/
Martin Blume:
Leaflight:
Close Calls
(FMR)



Oakland Reductionist
Orchestra:
West And East
Baying
(Queen Bee Records)



Bucher/
Tan/
Countryman:
Nonlinear Expressions
(FMR)



Le UN (
Agnel/
Battus/
Chiesa/
Doneda/
Gauget/
Marchetti/
Petit):
Le Havre
[VINYL + CD]
(UnRec)



Patricia Brennan:
Of The Near And Far
(Pyroclastic Records)



Maria Valencia/
Matt Moran/
Brandon Lopez:
Tarabita Espiral
(Relative Pitch)



Zeena Parkins/
Cecilia Lopez:
Redshifts
(Relative Pitch)



Berlinde Deman:
Plank 9
(Relative Pitch)



Taborn/
Cline/
Gilmore:
Trio of Bloom
(Pyroclastic Records)



Eri Yamamoto/
Matthew Shipp:
Horizon
(Mahakala Music)



Pierre Favre/
Sergio Armaroli/
Andrea Centazzo/
Francesca Gemmo:
The Art Of Sound(s) (
first visit)
(ezz-thetics by
Hat Hut Records
Ltd)



Francesca Gemmo/
Magda Mayas:
Tides In The Mirror (
first visit)
(ezz-thetics by
Hat Hut Records
Ltd)



John Edwards/
Luis Vicente/
Vasco Trilla:
Choreography of Fractures
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Joe Morris/
Peter Evans/
Tyshawn Sorey:
Comprehensive
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Ray Anderson/
Joe Hertenstein Quartet feat. Michael Moore/
Michael Formanek:
7th Dinner Live
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Marc Sabat:
Bach Tunings
(Another Timbre)



Magnus Granberg /
Skogen:
The Willow Bends
And So Do I
(Another Timbre)



The Necks:
Disquiet
[3 CDs]
(Northern Spy)



Jason Hwang Kao:
Myths of Origin
(True Sound Recordings)







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. (6074)