Cut 009
Repeat is the duo of Toshi Nakamura (no-input mixing board) and Jason Kahn (Percussion and electronics). Kahn’s work tends toward the more accessible branches of electronic improvisation, generally utilizing softer tones and at least hints of rhythm. Nakamura, when working with others, will usually go into hyper-spare mode, offering the barest tinges of sound while on his solo projects, he indulges in loop-based, warmer atmospheres. On ‘Pool’, recorded in 2001, the two discover an enjoyable common ground creating music that, at first blush, sounds quite accommodating, even lush, but sometimes hints at darker, thornier concerns underneath its shiny exterior. Kahn will, for example, play some quiet beats on bass drum and overlay it with high-pitched bells. Nakamura then takes off from the bell tones, producing a keening drone that fluctuates ever so slightly, giving the potentially too saccharine-sounding bells a subtly disturbing edge. This is the approach on the first five tracks (all mixed by Kahn) with variations in the palette employed but otherwise similar. They’re pleasing pieces, if somewhat lacking in ultimate substance. Nakamura mixed the final two cuts and, one assumes, managed to invest the music with a bit more heft. The aural space is opened out, there’s less of a compressed, rushed feeling even as loops and rhythms percolate along. The final cut manages the neat balancing act of sounding like a pristine Shinto ceremony at the beginning and then, before one realizes it morphing into a space that approximates a gentle, just opening pachinko parlor. These two tracks make ‘Pool’ worth the purchase on their own, especially for those who have enjoyed Nakamura’s series of solo “nimb” releases and may have been put off by the sparseness of his other collaborations.
~Brian Olewnick
Posted by on November 9, 2003 7:20 AMThis disc is far more abstract than the (IMO) more enjoyable Temporary Contemporary, but I've found myself far more absorbed in listening to it. It's the intermittent, offset quieter noises and hums that are really engaging; the disc sounds quite "alive". Any idea as to whether things were added post-production?
Posted by: al at November 9, 2003 2:49 PMas far as i know, no things were added post-production. though toshi might have added some pitch-shifting like effects in the last track (at the very end) - but i think that is the only thing.
Posted by: tomas at November 16, 2003 6:06 AMhey, welcome, tomas! what's going on in switzerland? I owe you an e-mail, I know...
Posted by: Jon Abbey at November 16, 2003 8:29 AMjon! :-) ... switzerland is quiet as always. a few interesting concerts this week, though: oren/gunter/norbert on wednesday, polwechsel/fennesz on friday. no problem about that email, take your time.
Posted by: tomas at November 16, 2003 4:57 PMwow, cool shows. that polwechsel/fennesz show is with siewert instead of stangl, I'm pretty sure, curious to hear how that goes.
Posted by: Jon Abbey at November 16, 2003 5:21 PM"that polwechsel/fennesz show is with siewert instead of stangl, I'm pretty sure, curious to hear how that goes"
-> i just came back from that show. a disappointment, really. not polwechsel, i thought they were 'ok' (though not their best day, i'm sure)... it was fennesz who ruined a great deal of the show in my eyes/ears. it felt like "the star and his band", something like that. he played much too loud and couldn't shut up for only one damn minute. siewert didn't play his best show either, i guess, but nevertheless: for me he just plays in another league than fennesz...
"but nevertheless: for me he just plays in another league than fennesz..."
-> i wanted to say 'played', sorry. - i'm not making a statement on fennesz's output in general, but in this show.
Tomas, I am wondering what you think of Fennesz's LIVE IN JAPAN cd, if you've heard it.
Posted by: al at November 21, 2003 4:46 PMinteresting, tomas, thanks for the report. that's the first polwechsel show ever without burkhard, and they haven't done too many with christian, so I'm not surprised to hear it was less than smooth.
Posted by: Jon Abbey at November 21, 2003 5:46 PMal: no i haven't heard fennesz's 'live in japan'... would you recommend it?
Posted by: tomas at November 22, 2003 10:25 AMTomas, no, that's why I was asking you! I've been seeing this disc and was wondering what people thought about it.
btw, the new Cut disc with Müller is superb. I'm enjoying it a lot.
Posted by: al at November 22, 2003 4:01 PM"I've been seeing this disc and was wondering what people thought about it."
-> ah, ok. if i get the chance to listen to it, i will tell you.
"btw, the new Cut disc with Müller is superb. I'm enjoying it a lot."
-> thanks!!
nobody asked me, & i've never posted here before, but the fennesz live in japan disc is quite good. in many ways, it's sort of a retread of endless summer, but not quite. a few songs/phrases from that album are stitched into the set, not as separate "songs" but as melodies or ideas within the larger thing that fennesz is putting together. it's definitely a beautiful set, a little rawer than endless summer and with much more obvious use of the guitar at times. not exactly essential i guess, but really enjoyable.
Posted by: ed howard at November 30, 2003 9:47 PMWell that's that, then. Order'll go in today. Thanks Ed.
Posted by: al at December 1, 2003 6:46 AMI found many nice postings. Please submit more for my next visit again.
Posted by: zip code at February 10, 2004 4:45 AM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................