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.


  Fred Lonberg-Holm / Abdul Moimeme / Carlos Santos 
  Transition Zone
  (Creative Sources) 


  
   review by Massimo Ricci
  2022-06-30
Fred Lonberg-Holm / Abdul Moimeme / Carlos Santos: Transition Zone (Creative Sources)

Transition Zone is a fitting title for the music offered by Fred Lonberg-Holm (cello & electronics), Abdul Moimême (a pair of electric guitars played simultaneously, plus nonspecific "objects") and Carlos Santos (computer & synthesizer). This is a live performance in Lisbon dating back to May 2018, the musicians repeatedly reaching heights of radical poetry by combining inmost responsiveness with a somewhat utopian inclination.

The interplay suggests an attempt to outstretch the instrumental possibilities to a point at which the human factor becomes virtually unnoticeable. Nonetheless the sounds are unquestionably organic, loaded with noisy pneuma, driven by a kind of self-determination. Their concrete beauty is best expressed by fleeting instants of profound connection, despite the manifest destabilization of familiar methodologies.

Selected pitches emitted by Lonberg-Holm's treated cello are genuinely painful, heading straight for the primary core of receptiveness. He has for many years now been a renowned specialist in dissecting the acoustic fiber of his instrument, whose molecular structure we can sometimes nearly glimpse. Moimême's guitars move across untrodden resonant paths, vibrant shapelessness and imposing clangors reminding us of certain Elliott Sharp-esque principles. Santos further contributes to the dismissal of harmonic tyranny by breaking up conventional frameworks, inserting electronic ear-openers, essentially converting the electroacoustic image into a room of warped mirrors.

There are instances, such as "Hushed" and "Ring", when one senses a meditative stasis behind the incessant movement of sonic particles, as if the trio's quest were directed toward an invisible light. It's a common ground of radiance, accommodating within itself even the most dynamically charged happenings. Elsewhere, mechanisms of unsystematic repetition soften the brutality of some combinations. Aesthetic laws are rewritten to meet needs that go far beyond the mere acceptance and assimilation of a given sound. Tracks like "Whirr" and "Tumultuous" express the agitational proclivity boiling inside the artists' collective soul. Still, they remain in complete control of their machines at all times. An improvisational logic defined by intellectual boldness is thus prevented from becoming sheer discordance, whose constituents would appear indivisible to the internal microscope of an ill-equipped audience.







Comments and Feedback:



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

Squidco

Recent Selections @ Squidco:


Berlin Art Quartet (
Schubert /
Bauer /
Muller /
Bruggemann):
Live At MIM
(Unisono Records)



Jimmy Lyons:
Rivbea Live! Series,
Volume 3
(NoBusiness)



Erik Klinga:
Elusive Shimmer
(thanatosis produktion)



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



Brass Clouds:
Escape Vessels
(Bathysphere Records)



Fire! Orchestra:
Echoes
[2 CDs]
(Rune Grammofon)



Sophie Agnel /
John Edwards /
Steve Noble:
Three On A Match
(Otoroku)



Satoko Fujii
This is It! (
w/
Natsuki Tamura /
Takashi Itani):
Message
(Libra)



Sorry For Laughing (
G. Whitlow /
M. Bates /
Dave-Id /
E. Ka-Spel):
Rain Flowers
[2 CDS]
(Klanggalerie)



New Origin (
feat. Christoph Rocher /
Joe Fonda /
Harvey Sorge):
The Poet Walks
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Simon Nabatov:
Agree to Disagree
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Von Schlippenbach, Alexander /
Barry Altschul Quartet w/
Joe Fonda &
Rudi Mahal:
Free Flow
[2 CDs]
(Listen! Foundation (
Fundacja Sluchaj!))



Thelonious Monk with
Sonny Rollins:
1953 To 1957
Revisited
(ezz-thetics by
Hat Hut Records
Ltd)



Daniel Carter /
Ayumi Ishito /
George Draguns /
Ed Wilcox:
Makeshift Spirituals
(577 Records)



Kory Reeder:
Homestead
(Another Timbre)



John Cage:
Chamber Works 1943-1951
(Another Timbre)



Josh Sinton:
Couloir &
Book Of Practitioners
Vol. 2
Book "W"
[2 CDs]
(FiP recordings)



Elliott Sharp /
Scott Fields:
Reimsi Geara
(Relative Pitch)



KnCurrent (
Brennan /
Cooper-Moore /
Davis /
Hwang):
KnCurrent
(Deep Dish)



Biota:
Measured Not Found
(Recommended Records)







Squidco









The Squid's Ear is the companion magazine to the online music shop Squidco !


  Copyright © Squidco. All rights reserved. Trademarks. (283)