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.


  Ensemble Discoveries 
  Offshore Adventures
  (Creative Sources) 


  
   review by Ken Waxman
  2023-09-07
Ensemble Discoveries: Offshore Adventures (Creative Sources)

An adventure all right, but in a Berlin studio rather than offshore, the Discoveries quintet aims to replicate through improvised minimalism the pressure, ocean floor textures and darkness of an aquatic environment. The unusually constituted crew includes cellists Hui-Chun Lin from Taiwan and Uygur Vural from Turkey and three Germans: trombonist Matthias Müller and dual bassists Klaus Kurvers and Ulf Mengersen. All are experienced in the musical gestalt of the German capital.

Throughout, the quintet subtly replicates sea bottom currents with undulating double bass drones: flora and fauna distinguished by strained spiccato cello rubs and jiggles; and squeaking slides and propelled watery blasts from the trombonist. Tonal ambiguity leads to gradual transference as musical currents wash in and out. "Sea Pen" for instance begins with Müller's portamento smears abutting lyrical thrusts from the cellos. But before the tune climaxes with a replication of calm waters, contrapuntal bass string thumps muddy the flow. The five are also able to maintain fluidity at a funereal pace on "Giant Squid" where fragmented marine life currents from string stops and vibrations are finally concentrated with a brass burr. Still other tracks glide through the moist program with a continuous melodious line from the group leading to expositions which bubble and burble with broken chords and tonal ambiguity contrasting half-valve pumps and whistling air from the trombonist with built up thrusts and sul poticello squeaks from the strings.

The most extended instance of this meld of consonant harmony and creative disruption is the concluding "Rem Cycles". Over a continuum of mallet-slapped strings the Discoveries members cycle through a theme that salvages chunks of double bass pressure, mellow cello swipes and gutbucket brass scoops while keeping the narrative afloat.

The band may not exactly have reached its musical safe harbor of sonically reflecting the deep sea, but its expanded improvisations are certainly shipshape.







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. (1748)