Asher - Graceful Degradation/Directions

Con-V
Cnvr07

Both of these recordings by Asher Thal-nir (a remarkable name, what with the Babylo-Nordic evocation!) share at least one aspect: a stick-to-it-iveness in concept, wringing out every last drop from an idea. If perhaps he carries this idea, which I’m normally quite partial to, a little bit farther than he should, both discs still provide a good bit of strange, lovely listening.

As often seems to happen, the genesis of “Graceful Degradation” involved two serendipitous elements: an old, battered spinet in some degree of disrepair that he’d adopted and a cache of ancient, wrinkled cassette tapes. Combining the two, Asher’s piano ruminations inevitably recall the work of Ross Bolleter although the actual musical content is quite different. His style is much more melodically oriented, even summoning forth connotations of the ballroom, albeit heard through layers of intervening murk and hiss. It would have served quite effectively as the soundtrack for that ghost bar scene in “The Shining” (!). The three pieces are not real-time improvisations, but were pieced together after the fact, structured and tiered inscrutably though with an ongoing, almost tidal, surge causing them to lap forward. The choice of notes, the shakiness with which they’re played/recorded and the overcast haze produce an abiding melancholic feeling. I’m occasionally reminded of the sub-aqueous sense that Bryars imparted to much of his “The Sinking of the Titanic”, of the music drifting off beyond “visibility” though there’s also a vagueness, an almost autistic quality that steers the music away from any sentimentality. My only complaint, and it’s a mild one, is that the tracks are similar enough that I would have preferred a single cut in which to loll, without the minor distraction of track breaks.

Leerraum
024.2006

“Directions” shares that latter similarity with the earlier disc—three relatively lengthy tracks containing work that doesn’t vary too much between them and, again, part of me is bothered by the track distinctions but it’s not a big deal. The derivation of the sounds isn’t nearly as clear as on “Graceful Degradation”. There are low volume hums and soft, ringing whines over which waft gentle pops, possibly of vinyl origin. On the first track, though, every few dozen seconds there’s a massive, deep throb like the echo from a blast of a steamship’s horn (just the echo, not the initial attack). As before, the pieces are steady-state, calmly mining what there is to be extracted. Actually, there’s something of a shift in the second track with a seesawing of dull clicks, the pitch altering ever so slightly back and forth with each iteration, the throb replaced be a quieter surge of hum. The final piece picks up exactly where the previous one left off, though eventually what was first a throb, then a loud hum, appears in the guise of a quavering, low shudder. I used the term “autistic” above and, to be sure, I don’t mean that derisively. There’s a calmness of purpose at work here that borders on the unconscious and trance-like. You get the sense that Asher just immerses himself in the surrounding aural environment as he subtly manipulates it. Depending on mood, I sometimes desire to hear more movement, more engagement but, on the other hand, there have been plenty of times where his approach has seemed just fine.

Both discs are well worth hearing and I’m anxious to hear more.

con-v (apparently the disc is sold out but, as indicated on the site, distributors may still have copies)

leerraum