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.


  Otomo Yoshihide 
  Hummingbird and Four Flowers - Turntable and Harmonium Solo Live
  (Hitorri) 


  
   review by Brian Olewnick
  2024-08-01
Otomo Yoshihide: Hummingbird and Four Flowers - Turntable and Harmonium Solo Live (Hitorri)

Otomo Yoshihide has been releasing music for more than four decades now and even the most devoted follower could be forgiven for losing track of the multiple and diverse manifestations of his musical personality. From the incendiary noise rock of Ground-Zero to the various jazz aspects of ONJQ and similar bands, to the rawer electronics of the Anode and Cathode series to shockingly pretty soundtracks like Blue, and much more besides, Otomo casts an extremely wide net.

Here, we have two longish works from an October, 2023 set at Ftarri, each simply titled with the instrumentation employed. When encountering Otomo's turntable approach, one is well advised not to (necessarily) expect much to do with vinyl; indeed, if there's vinyl being scratched herein, this listener can't verify it. On the other hand, he has presumably, over the years, devised hundreds of unorthodox ways of extracting sound from this particular machine, many of them incorporating the rotating platter, imparting a repetitive aspect but many others involving inputs and outputs and who knows what else. "Turntable Solo", the second track on this release, begins with irregular staticky sounds, some pops and thuds, gradually thickening to a roar. One can hear Otomo thrashing away at it (the arm, inputs, who knows?) in a manner that's not too far from guitar shredding, albeit entirely in the extreme noise realm. The piece maintains this unrelenting attack for most of its length, only subsiding over the last few minutes into a softly grinding, metallically groaning sequence that sounds appropriately exhausted.

By adding the harmonium in "Turntable and Harmonium Solo", Otomo adds a welcome, drone-oriented element though, to be sure, it's not like he approaches the new instrument any less radically than he does the turntable. Still, it provides a grounding hum behind the light scrabbling that begins the piece, the latter sounding like plastic balls vibrating and bouncing on the rotating platter. It's a more layered and subtle work, the shifting drone of the harmonium (sounding almost justly-tuned) gradually filling the space, almost obscuring the taps and rattles from, one assumes, the turntable. That drone ebbs about midway through the piece, augmented by harsh squeals. This harshness is the dominant feature for a while, a passage that will test the mettle of even the hardiest noise fan though it eventually acquires depth of its own, a space between the shrieks and an agitated, hollow rattling buried beneath that comes to the fore at the work's conclusion, resulting in, retrospectively, a fine, if harrowing, arc.

Not for the faint of heart, but another bracing, uncompromising release from Yoshihide.







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. (18390)