The Squid's Ear
Writing about unusual and experimental 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.


  Various Artists 
  Amsterdam . Berlin . Moscow . Losoncy
  (Edition Wandelweiser Records) 


  
   review by Nick Ostrum
  2022-12-21
Various Artists: Amsterdam . Berlin . Moscow . Losoncy (Edition Wandelweiser Records)

As are many releases from the last couple of years, amsterdam . berlin . moscow loscony is a direct product of the pandemic. Composer and musician Dante Boon, who composed three of the eleven tracks on this double-disc release, masterminded these distance collaborations, sometimes of musicians who had never played together before in person. Intentionally or not, the result is almost a survey of some of the recent directions the ever-expanding Wandelweiser collective and label have gone. amsterdam, et al. showcases an exceptional diversity of stylistic possibilities, especially for an aesthetic which, at least for a while, was dedicated to finding the finest of variegations in monotonous, super-silent, and simple sonic edifices.

The realizations here range from aching sonnet scales overlain by ghostly vocals to explorations of long-tones and resonances to plangent, barebones piano solos to more atonal, Schoenberg-styled romanticism. The odd-piece out is Gabi Loscony's contribution "Tighter", which is a percussive piece that sounds like random typewriter clitter-clatter. The most moving tracks for me, however, are the barer compositions that nevertheless point toward melodic pathways: "The Heart's Size" (Boon), "Depression" (Boon), "Trauermusik" (Rishin Singh), "A Dream" (Kirill Shirokov). That is not to say, of course that Germaine Sijstermans "M" or Seamus Carter's "Tree Space: The Trees They Do Grow High" or Samuel Vriezen's "Linking" do not have their wistful or otherwise effective moments. They do. For me, however, those stretched and painfully unfolding pieces strike that fine balance between avant-garde and balladic sensibilities. It is hard to turn away from these. Then again, they work in this context in a manner they might not in others. All in all, this is a coherent and diverse album, and one that showcases a few of the many sides of today's Wandelweiser, however one might conceive of it.



Various Artists: Amsterdam . Berlin . Moscow . Losoncy
Is Sold at Squidco!
Squidco




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
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. (30008)