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.


  Tipple (Gjerstad / Norton / Watson) 
  Cartoon Heart
  (Relative Pitch) 


  
   review by Massimo Ricci
  2020-12-28
Tipple (Gjerstad / Norton / Watson): Cartoon Heart (Relative Pitch)

There's no absolute certainty in a reviewer's life. Much less so when dealing with distinguished instrumentalists who produce a record worthy of their skill, but mainly impenetrable in terms of descriptive opportunities. The latest sample of improvisational expertise by Tipple (Frode Gjerstad on sax, clarinet and flute, Kevin Norton on drums and percussion, David Watson on guitar and bagpipes), Cartoon Heart, is an album to scrutinize once, twice, thrice. Even in random mode, relishing the reshuffled components. But, in the end, it's also a classic case of "great, but how should I talk about all this now?"

Perhaps the primary adjective for the trio's unrestrained sagacity is "mysterious". Over the course of fifteen incisive tracks the music keeps refusing connotations, unless we recycle trite definitions like "harmonic abstractionism" (of rather physical matrix, anyway). For sure the players' multi-instrumentalism establishes a highly varied sonic environment. In general, the overall sound is characterized by a conspicuous reverberation, probably indicative of a large recording room. Tipple's research seems to exalt timbral features depicting a somewhat stoned parallel reality. This includes more understated sections; behind a theoretical tranquility, detours from ordinary logic are always an option.

The obsessive analyst is deluded into picking up crumbles of supposed influences here and there, but risks looking foolish in lining them up. There are trance-ful episodes such as "Ghost Ship", Watson's bagpipes creating drones upon which Gjerstad's nebulous flute and Norton's conscious caressing of gongs and vibes float as in a dream. Elsewhere, harmonizers (methinks) are applied on both guitar and winds, thus producing awkward fragments of atonal non-linearity. The opening "Incinerator" could tempt someone to believe in a punk-jazz programmatic declaration. But that feeling disappears at the subsequent stops.

In short, the musicians' experience and independent ardor warrant a semi-anarchy totally deprived of frippery, and rigorously without a net. An idea comes along, is investigated for a while, only to be thrown away almost immediately. The next is completely different, and the program — if there was ever one to begin with — goes on like that, until conclusion. A sometimes disconcerting unpredictability, which at any rate leaves us ready to start all over again, still willing to discover previously unnoticed listening perspectives, new colors, new clues.







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. (12896)