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.


  Butcher/Muller/Van Der Schyff 
  Way Out Northwest
  (Drip Audio) 


  
   review by Paul Serralheiro
  2008-03-24
Butcher/Muller/Van Der Schyff: Way Out Northwest (Drip Audio)

Each of these musicians is an accomplished artist in his own right. But combined, they're a powerful creative team. Captured live in June last year at Vancouver's Western Front (an acoustically warm and resonant older building in the older part of town) during that city's innovative international jazz festival, the six pieces here are inspired interactions with lots of momentum and imagination.

The most fascinating feature is the variety of timbres and effects the trio can coax out of their instruments. John Butcher's tenor and soprano saxophones sound at times like flutes, clarinet, percussion instruments, birds, streams and eerie electronics. Bassist Torsten Muller can make the double bass sing and speak in ways you would never expect from the instrument; he achieves this with nuances of bowing, as in the opening "häufig eine hydraulsiche Metaphertendenz" but also with a pizzicato approach that plays on overtones. Drummer Dylan van der Schyff — like Muller a Vancouver resident and fixture of that city's creative music scene — is up to his usual tricks with the sticks, brushes and hands, keeping the percussive ball rolling, with all kinds of non-traditional sounds from the drum set, augmented by blocks and bells. This is risk-taking drumming, as cymbals are scratched, drums slapped and a continuous flow of ideas shows that imagination rules.

The tunes have distinct characteristics, aptly alluded to by their titles, which, since this is improvised music, may have come after the fact. The energy levels fluctuate, as do textures and emotional content. Among the high energy pieces are the opener already cited and the minimalist "Gone, Goner." Other pieces, like "Taktgebertendenz," maintain a slow burn. "MagiC ClocCK maCHine" is the most cacophonous of the bunch, where the musicians go for the jugular of creative expression — this is a piece that bites and fights until its wrestled the muses to the ground, yet they still take flight, without either musician or muse ever giving up. "Sharpening the windings until they roll up, roll up, roll up and snag on the point of the tear" is probably the motliest piece, building from some rhythmic scraps through rich harmonic textures to some keening counterpoint. The subtleties of the music are all beautifully resonant, because, although this is a live recording, the sound is studio quality, due in no small part to the Western Front's acoustics and to sensitive microphone placement and editing.







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. (9727)