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.


  Rhodri Davies 
  Transversal Time
  (Confront Recordings) 


  
   review by Paul Serralheiro
  2020-11-12
Rhodri Davies: Transversal Time (Confront Recordings)

Listening to this collective effort of nine musicians interpreting Rhodri Davies's 2017 piece Transversal Time, the idea of the "less is more" aesthetic comes to mind, as the concerted sounds add up to one efficiently moving organism. It is not surprising to learn from the excellent liner notes written by David Toop that there is much more at work here than meets the ear, although it all makes sense.

Toop points out that the piece "encompasses many of those sensations and perceptions of time that are embodied by music," and that "improvising musicians develop acute sensitivities to body clock, breath, pulses and the silent transformations of time-between time." Further, there is the idea that "For its starting point [Transversal Time] assigns different time systems — Standard Time, Decimal Time, and Hex Time — to individual musicians." These ideas are discernible in the slowly evolving nature of the piece intended for the nine improvising musicians involved. The effect is of a unified and simple cohesive sound evolving over 38 minutes that puts a listener into a deeply meditative state.

Most interesting among the points that Toop makes, however, is the fact that the composer's family history is a likely source of Davies' approach here. Davies' grandfather ran a business that involved precision repairs on watches and clocks, which Davies' own father took over. Further ideas about the significance of time are elaborated in the informative notes that accompany this release, which the listener will be enlightened by.

The singular, cohesive, dare I say "clockwork," effect of the piece, almost sounding as if it were the work of one musician, involves, in fact nine musicians of a surprising variety of timbral sources: electronics, harp, zither, contrabass recorder, cello, piano, vocals, as well as computer programming. The whole came together in a live performance recorded on April 13, 2018 at Chapter, Cradiff by Simon Reynell, with the participation of Ryoko Akam, Sarah Hughes, Sofia Jernberg, Pia Palme, Adam Parkinson, Lucy Railton, Pat Thomas and Dafne Vicente-Sandoval.

The experience of the piece is a soothing sonic reminder that yes, time passes, and that it is the one fundamental denominator under which we all function, as well as being probably one of the most significant variables in the musical experience. What is more important, however, is the sensation one gets that the changes that occur through time are more meaningful experienced than analyzed, as they stir the profoundly gratifying sense of the soul at work.







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:


Derek Bailey/
John Stevens:
The Duke of
Wellington
(Confront)



Paul Dunmall:
Away With
Troubles And Anxieties!
(Discus)



Shifa (
Musson/
Thomas/
Sanders):
Ecliptic
(Discus)



Natsuki Tamura/
Satoko Fujii:
Ki
(Libra)



Borah Bergman/
Anthony Braxton/
Peter Brotzmann:
Eight By Three
(Mixtery)



Hedvig Mollestad Trio:
Bees In
The Bonnet
(Rune Grammofon)



Acid Mothers Temple &
The Melting Paraiso
UFO:
Black Mountain
ide
(Rolling Heads)



Evan Parker/
Bill Nace:
Branches (
Live at Cafe OTO)[VINYL]
(Open Mouth)



Alexander Hawkins/
Taylor Ho Bynum:
A Near Permanent State
Of Wonder
(RogueArt)



Joseph Holbrooke (
w/ Derek Bailey/
Gavin Bryars/
Tony Oxley):
Last Live 2001 -
In Memoriam
Derek Bailey
And
Tony Oxley
[2 CDs]
(Tzadik)



Zeena Parkins:
Modesty Of
The Magic Thing
(Tzadik)



Dave Douglas (
Douglas/
Ridout/
Adewumi/
Brennan/
Pass/
Royston):
Alloy
(Greenleaf Music)



Ivo Pereleman/
Nate Wooley/
Matt Moran/
Mark Helias/
Tom Rainey:
A Modicum
Of the Blues
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)



Angles 11:
Tell Them
It's The Sound Of Freedom
(Fundacja Sluchaj!)



Sifter (
w/ Lisa Mezzacappa):
Flake/
Fracture
(Queen Bee Records)



Jean-Marc Foussat:
Abbatage
(Fou Records)



Chester Hawkins:
Apsis
(Intangible Arts)



Karl Evangelista's Apura +
Andrew Cyrille:
Bukas
(577 Records)



Frode Gjerstad/
Alexander von Schlippenbach/
Dag Magnus Narvesen:
Seven Tracks
(Relative Pitch)



Kaze (
Fujii/
Tamura/
Orins/
Pruvost) with/ Koichi Makigami:
Shishiodoshi
(Circum-Libra)







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. (12897)