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.


  Annette Krebs & Rhodri Davies 
  Kravis Rhonn Project
  (Another Timbre) 


  
   review by Max Schaefer
  2009-07-12
Annette Krebs & Rhodri Davies: Kravis Rhonn Project (Another Timbre)

Rhodri Davies' meeting with Annette Krebs in Berlin in April of 2008 relies heavily on a reductionist aesthetic. Their respective sound generators, which include guitar, electric harp, tape, mixing board and various anonymous objects, form a surface wash in which, at least most of the time, everything, from creaks, scrapes, rattles, buzzes, and edgy bowed tones, is held together without homogenizing. This common ground proves fertile, up to a point, owing to the duo's ability to maintain it as a middle-ground where a certain decisiveness, patience, and technical mastery is employed while nonetheless remaining responsive and daring enough to overlook absolute unity in favor of indefiniteness.

It's a music made for minute motions drifting in cold, remote regions, glassy drones pricked by tactile and sharp sonic output, like seaweed snaring gnarled wood; it also seems to continually settle down into its own sonic undergrowth, transforming therein, and then rising silently to take on new, somewhat dramatic forms, forms that, though recognizable, still never fully realize or reveal themselves. Unexpected disclosures come in, moments when the crust fissures or when a segment is suddenly subtly layered for depth and contrast, and in which a clenched tension is more apparent.

This tension is enriching but obviously not essential for the work. As though absorbed in a kind of exercise, the work does occasionally come off as an exercise, the duo seem more engrossed in testing out the process, seeing how far it will go and where its strong and weak points lie. It's messy, uncertain energy thus knows neat forms, engaging progressions and surprising moments when the outside world seems to spill in, but, at this stage of development, this still doesn't stop it from sometimes being scrappily redundant and even dry.







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:


Samuel Blaser Quartet:
Rosina
(Blaser Music)



Samuel Blaser Quartet:
Rosina
[CASSETTE]
(Blaser Music)



TRAC (
Teddy Ryles/
Alexander Cooper):
Heavy Nano Ream Aria
[2 CDs]
(Bu Lang Tribute Cake)



Tyshawn Sorey (
w/
O'Farrill/
Shim/
Korten/
Allen II/
Victor):
Members... Don't!
[2 CDs]
(Pi Recordings)



Josh Berman Trio:
Everybody Else's Life,
Too
(Corbett vs. Dempsey)



Charles Downs Quartet (
w/
Paz/
Saft/
Morris):
Inner
(ESP Disk)



Satoko Fujii:
Bunker Ulmenwall Orchestra
[2 CDs]
(Libra)



Henry Kaiser:
Gateway To Strangeness (
solo guitar)
(Metalanguage)



Michael Marcus Quartet (
Marcus/
Williams/
Rodriguez/
Mednard):
Next Stop Down
(ESP Disk)



Le GGRIL + DDK:
Diffraction
(Tour de Bras/
Circum-Disc)



Jason Kahn/
Phil Durrant/
Mark Wastell/
Caius Williams:
Where The Stars
(Editions)



The Tony Williams
Emergency w/ John McLaughlin/
Larry Young:
Emergency!
(ALAY)



Vienna FLAMMeS (
Koglmann/
Schiske/
Donhauser/
Buhlmann/
Mautner/
Rohrer):
He Said Boler o'
(ALAY)



Ballister
+
Luke Stewart:
Clocking the Wheel
(Aerophonic)



Duke Ellington Orchestra:
From Fargo Live 1940
(ALAY)



Camila Nebbia/
Chris Corsano:
Six or Seven Ways
Towards Becoming Undone
(Relative Pitch)



Hilary Jeffery (
w/ Delius/
Dunmall/
Jeffery/
Poulou):
Green Prism:
Music by
Keith Tippett
(Discus)



Paul Dunmall:
Afraid To Speak
(Discus)



Gerry Hemingway/
Izumi Kimura/
Frank Gratkowski/
Christian Weber:
Live At Bau 4
(ezz-thetics by
Hat Hut Records
Ltd)



Albert Ayler:
Reference: Albert Ayler, Spirits & Spirits Rejoice
[CD + POSTCARD]
(ALAY)







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. (91196)