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.


  Oker (Larsen / Myhr / Rasten / Gismervik) 
  Susurrus
  (Shhpuma) 


  
   review by Paul Serralheiro
  2021-09-27
Oker (Larsen / Myhr / Rasten / Gismervik): Susurrus (Shhpuma)

In today's world of sonic crowding and sound-byte overload, the fact that this kind of music even exists is a wonder and a delight. It's kind of like discovering a fragile flower in a remote desolate landscape or watching a delicate snow crystal alighting on a grungy winter street. Torstein Lavik, trumpet, Adrian Fiskum Myhr, double bass, Fredrik Rasten, acoustic guitar, and Jan Martin Gismervik, drums, percussion, manage the feat with minimalistic means but with heroic results.

From the sparely articulated and slowly evolving "Filament" the band plies its electro-acoustic magic. The instrumentation, while rather trite and hackneyed on paper, results in a wonder of symphonic, textural and compositional collective thinking. "Filament" spins from long bowed lines on the bass, spry light choral flourishes from the guitar, mysterious and intriguing percussive sounds from scarped cymbals, rustling snares, sizzling metallic tid-bits, and ringing tones of great variety from the trumpet. Economy of means is the guiding light here.

"Lichens" is a pointillistic theme that evolves as sounds are generated in a seemingly ad lib fashion, a kind of tone poem where sounds fall like drops of water on rocks and splotchy twinkling of guitar pizzicato in the altissimo register, along with the snare drum brushes and other sundry percussive; just some of the varied means the band uses to stoke the imagination.

The last two pieces, "Learning to Float" and "Formation of Staring," continue in the established aesthetic, percolating with imaginative sympathetic ideas from all four musicians who weave a wonderful tapestry of colors from their instruments in a manner that shows great imagination, creativity, attentive listening, compositional symmetry and synchronicity.

Susurrus means "a whispering sound," a well-chosen title. Oker, by the same token is also an apt band name, as it implies "increase," (along with the more obvious color reference to "ochre"), something that is evident as four minimalistic voices blend in the whispering and create something soothing and profound.







Comments and Feedback:



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

Squidco

Recent Selections @ Squidco:


Kim Jae Jung:
Shamanism
(Relative Pitch)



Joe McPhee/
Susanna Gartmayer/
John Edwards/
Maria Portugal:
Monster
(Klanggalerie)



Signe Emmeluth/
Ingebrigt Haker-Flaten/
Axel Filip:
Hyperboreal Trio
(Relative Pitch)



John Butcher/
John Edwards:
This Is
Not Speculation
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Izumi Kimura/
Lina Andonovska/
Dominique Pifarely:
Seven Dreams
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Jerome Deupree/
Sylvie Courvoisier/
Lester St. Louis/
Joe Morris:
Canyon
[2 CDs]
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Marc Baron/
Eric La Casa:
Contrefacons
(Swarming)



Francisco Lopez:
Untitled (
2021-2022)
[2 CDs]
(Bu Lang Tribute Cake)



Eventless Plot |
Haarvol:
The Subliminal Paths
[CASSETTE + DOWNLOAD]
(Innovo Editions)



Akmee:
Sacrum Profanum
(Nakama Records)



Karl Evangelista Quintet
feat. Bobby Bradford and
William Roper:
Solace Angles
(Asian Improv)



Sveio:
Latent Imprints
(577 Records)



The Sleep Of Reason
Produces Monsters (
Rasmussen/
Mitelli/
Rezaei/
Koenig):
The Sleep Of Reason
Produces Monsters
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)



Dan Brown/
Dan Reynolds:
Live At
The Grange Hall
[unauthorized][CASSETTE]
(Sacred Realism)



Matt Mitchell:
Sacrosanctity
(Obliquity)



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



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



Mary Halvorson Septet:
Illusionary Sea
[2 LPS]
(Firehouse 12 Records)



Darius Jones:
Legend of e'Boi (
The Hypervigilant Eye)
[VINYL + DOWNLOAD]
(Aum Fidelity)



Irene Schweizer/
Rudiger Carl/
Johnny Dyani/
Han Bennink:
Irenes Hot Four
(Intakt)







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. (17804)