Music Reviews and Whatnot, fresh from my brain to this blog. With occasional bonus thoughts.

Comments by: YACCS

 
Morton Feldman - "String Quartet (II)"
I'll be honest here. I don't really have a clue how to review this; it's a five hour string quartet by Morton Feldman, a little-known avant-garde composer who was a contemporary of John Cage. There seems to be a recent Feldman resurgence, which probably would make him happy, if he weren't dead. Feldman's "thing" was, especially towards the end of his life, to create very long works of music which effectively sound like they are suspended in space. In other words, Feldman's pieces don't have a beginning, middle, and end, they 'arrive' and then 'are' for a given length of time, and then just sort of end; no dramatic codas or 1812-style overture cannons going off. Feldman's idea of a big moment is to offer a slight change in tempo, or a move from a long drone to a shorter drone-- or, in some sections, pizzicato. However, this does not mean it's ambient, in any sense of the word; your reviewer finds the work relentlessly tense, even approaching unpleasant in spots, and there are sections which reminded me of a warped Phillip Glass record played at the wrong (much slower) speed. Feldman does not go back to reoccurring themes, and though he does use repetition, it is within very specific chunks of time.

So what does this all add up to? Well, it's a hell of an investment in time, and while there are sections which are "conventionally" beautiful, I'd imagine that a lot of people would find this very hard going. It's recorded very well, and the Ives Ensemble gets a lot of credit for being the first to record this monster (it is seldom played, and has never been recorded). The merely curious, however, would probably be better served by some of Feldman's easier to obtain works (this is a limited HatART set), and those which are, perhaps a little shorter. However, if the description above doesn't put you off, you'll find a hell of a lot to like here. Me, I love this thing; I just wonder how many times I'll do so.
posted by Toddlike at 9:39 PM  

 
Fennesz - "Endless Summer"
Hey kids, remember "glitch"? That flavor of the month "innovation" in techno music, where people like Pole, Oval, and Sutekh uses either the real or simulated sound of equipment failure to add texture to ambient noise? Remember snatching up copies of Ovalprocess and trying to figure out what all the fuss was about? Or the time you listened to "Clicks and Cuts, Vol 2" and wondered what the hell I was raving about? Well, gosh darn it if someone didn't come along in the middle of all that and release a record which simply makes 'em all sound like genre wankery. Fennesz's "Endless Summer" takes it's queue from soft, lilting summer pop (hence the title), and runs it through the glitch "process" to make a record with a perfect balance of melody and texture. Unlike his previous efforts, which showcased harsh noises with their glitchery, Fennesz works with his guitar (he always has, I have heard, but I'll be damnned if you can tell), creating light, simple melodies-- the title track being a prime example. He then layers the rapid fade ins and outs, surface noise, and clicks onto the melodies. It sounds like sunlight being filtered through trees, the dark shadows contrasting with the melodies, somehow beautifying the process.

This album is thought through, and thoughtful. An essential release.
posted by Toddlike at 9:16 PM