+Minus
A Rainy Koran Verse
Trente Oiseaux
TOC043
“A Rainy Koran Verse” is a quick follow-up to +Minus’ first disc, released earlier this year (and one of my favorite recent recordings). This one consists of three live performances, or sections thereof, recorded in May 2004 during an English tour. Before I get to the music, I’d like to mention one interesting extra-musical aspect of the disc: the “liner notes”, which include photos and a fun-to-read tour diary by Mark Wastell, are included on the disc itself in .pdf format. It’s a nice idea, one I wouldn’t at all mind seeing become more popular, at least for those musicians concerned with elaborating verbally (and graphically) on their work. In this case, I was happy to read of the source for the lovely cover photo as well as the derivation of the disc’s title. Before learning of its genesis, I was convinced it was an anagram and was intent on sitting down and “solving” it.
As on the prior disc, the modus operandi is for Gunter to supply “basis tracks” (pre-existing, generally drone-like electronic compositions) often augmented by live playing on his recently invented cellotar while Halliwell confines his alto work (as nearly as I can tell) exclusively to feedback, something he does superbly. Wastell, in the interim, has abandoned his “amplified textures” and works directly with tam-tam, bowed prayer bowls, snare drum and bells. My problem, such as it is, with this alignment is that all three musicians often end up occupying a very narrow sonic sliver, all in the mid to high range, ringing hum sphere. Now, I can easily see where the subtle variations within a tightly focused stratum could make for fascinating listening. Alvin Lucier’s juxtapositions of sine waves with equally pitched instruments, for example, set up all manner of amazing aural moiré patterns. Here, for the most part, I just don’t get that same sense of absorbance, I don’t lose myself in the drones. Part of me feels like I’m simply missing something, but repeated listenings have, more often than not, failed to transport this listener. There are moments in each section, such as when Wastell switches to brushed snare in the opening track, where my interest gets piqued, but they tend to be more episodic than thought through. Gunter’s cellotar lines, when the instrument’s being played more or less like a traditional cello, can take on an appealing, slightly Romantic character and occasionally, as happens toward the end of the first track, the trio sounds rather startlingly like a section of one Gavin Bryar’s subtler pieces. It’s a nice area, one I’d love to hear developed further.
The second track worked most successfully for me, largely due to the handfuls of sonic grit tossed into the mix. It’s not an overt change, more, perhaps, a basis track with an increased amount of rumbling, some scratchier cellotar playing, Wastell doing a greater percentage of clicking and tapping instead of bowing. But it creates an atmosphere that varies in a very natural way, flowing from one field to another. Gunter’s languidly sensuous cello comes even more to the fore here but, balanced by that undercurrent of edginess, there’s a palpable sense of embeddedness, of rootedness in the world rather than ethereality. It’s a lovely, rich track, the one piece on this disc that compares most favorably with the earlier album. A jarringly awkward edit (intentional?) leads to the third piece wherein the performance reverts a bit to the territory covered in track one. There’s a nice wind-buffeting undertone at one point, but the ringing sonorities overhead are a bit too…just there. Hard to explain, except that I don’t pick up a purpose for them. There is some attractive ambient sound on this track, some shuffling and banging and I get the impression that, sitting in the space itself, I might have found myself far more drawn in.
My ambivalence about the disc probably stems from several factors, including my great appreciation of their first. “A Rainy Koran Verse” rings true less often than I would have hoped or expected but it’s still, overall, an enjoyable recording and I remain anxious to hear subsequent ones. I'd even argue that the second track is worth the price of admission.
~ Brian Olewnick
Thanks for your thoughts on this one Brian. I've had a similarly ambivalent response to this & the recent Sealed Knot, which do sound suspiciously similar...
Posted by: nd at November 16, 2004 7:54 AM"Thanks for your thoughts on this one Brian. I've had a similarly ambivalent response to this & the recent Sealed Knot, which do sound suspiciously similar..."
Do they? The two discs mentioned above are in my opinion amongst the best releases of the year, two wonderful examples of beautifully crafted improvisation, but I really do not think that they sound similar at all.
Maybe both discs evoke a certain austerity, an attention to the quality of each carefully chosen sound to create a similar mood and pace, but thats about where the similarity ends.
Whilst Mark Wastell appears on both recordings he plays tam tam and prayer bowls on the +minus disc and double bass on the Sealed Knot disc. His co musicians in the two trios are all different and all play very different instrumentation.
The two discs, whilst both portraying a melancholic beauty I've not heard the like of since Duos for Doris, use very different sounds and dynamics to achieve this beauty. As Brian identifies, the +minus disc utilises a lot of sustained notes, chimes and bowed sounds, whilst the Sealed Knot disc is far more muscular, made up in a large part from carefully selected percussive sounds created by Wastell's bass, Rhodri Davies' harp and Burkhard Beins' well, percussion.
One of the most interesting things about +minus that I'm surprised hasn't been discussed more is the inclusion of composed material as a backdrop into which the musicians play, challenging all of the old ideals about the boundaries between improv and composition. Whilst this approach is nothing new I have never heard it work as well as it does on the two +minus recordings. In fact I don't think I have ever heard it work at all before!
Posted by: Richard Pinnell at November 16, 2004 1:46 PMI have to say I agree entirely with what Richard Pinnell has to say about both +minus and The Sealed Knot. To my mind, A Rainy Koran Verse refines beautifully the music presented on the group's inaugural disc, First Meeting, and takes it somewhere very interesting. Sure, there's less "sonic grit" generally to A Rainy Koran Verse, but that doesn't mean it lacks rigour or that improvisation is being subtly downplayed in favour of New Age atmospherics.
Posted by: Brian Marley at November 16, 2004 2:07 PMto throw my two cents in here, I probably haven't spent as much time with any of these discs as the above four listeners (hello, Brian M.! I hope that you'll be joining us on a regular basis from now on.) as I've got a lot of Erst-related listening on my plate these days, but I found A Rainy Koran Verse to be dreadfully dull and way too long, I really had trouble making it through the whole thing.
I don't necessarily think that the new Sealed Knot and the two +minus recordings sound "suspiciously similar" (and suspicious is an odd word to use in this context), but I do think they're all working within a similarly narrow aesthetic, which I find a bit grey and dull, and I do think it's a danger area (which I'm sure I'll discuss with Mark next time I talk to him, since someone will already have pointed this out to him. hello, Mark!)
as far as "melancholic beauty", I much prefer Mark's recent solo disc on W.M.O. to all three mentioned above (for one thing, the narrowness of the approach works a lot better for me at 20 minutes than it does on the 70-plus of ARKV), and I also think Mark's upcoming duo with Tim Barnes breaks out of this temporary rut, if that's what you're looking for.
Posted by: Jon Abbey at November 16, 2004 4:03 PMWonderful comments by all above. . .can anyone compare the second release from The Sealed Knot to the first? I'd hardly label the Meniscus "muscular," ergo I'm quite curious to hear the recent offering. Thanks.
Posted by: Michael Schaumann at November 16, 2004 4:19 PMjust to be anal, there are actually three releases by The Sealed Knot, this was the first (I assume Michael means the Meniscus and just-released Confront ones):
http://www.shef.ac.uk/misc/rec/ps/efi/labels/confront/front06.html
Posted by: Jon Abbey at November 16, 2004 4:42 PMThe Meniscus & new Confront one are very different but I'd have to give them both a spin before I could say more.
"Suspiciously" (="prompting me to raise my eyebrows") just because, given that Wastell's credited with different instruments & the other two bandmembers are different on each disc, the results are pitched in a curiously similar zone. Yes, there's some differences of course (notably a certain throbbing pulse to the Sealed Knot in some passages, which is different from the pretty languorous Rainy Koran Verse) but both discs do seem to be mining the same vein at some length....
Good to see you here Brian. Dense Lens, baby! (Sorry, I'm sounding like Steve Reynolds.)
Posted by: nd at November 16, 2004 9:20 PMHaven't heard the disc yet, but as far as composition/improvisation mixture goes just wanted to comment I think it's a pretty healthy thing to do. I'm personally not such a 'free' improv purist do disallow things like that. If it allows exploration, that's great.
+minus are playing in London in January, so I look forward to hearing the stuff in practice.
I wasn't very impressed with the tour diary, though. Maybe I'm wrong, but I thought the interest of a tour diary is the personalities and strange happenings that occur on the way. (Y'know: emotion, reflection, life!) The slightest bits of grit or flavour we get are mentions of Graham being threatened by some teens before an old lady saves him, and Bernhard not liking a greasy fry-up. I was less than gripped.
I know tours for improvisors are not often the three-month, sleep-in-the-van and survive-off-beer-coffee-and-cigarettes journeys that some bands typically experience, but was there any more to the tour than We drove there. We set up surprisingly quickly. Then we ate Chinese food. Wow, some people came. It sounded pretty good; pleasant conversation followed. ? If not, I don't see any point in publishing it.
I like the tour dates listed, evolution of the group, title explanation, etc. I like to read things like that. I don't see what's particularly insightful about the tour diary. Did anyone find it revealing of anything of great interest?
Posted by: Michael Rodgers at November 17, 2004 5:44 AMHello!
Althou i've listened to all albums mentioned here exept latest Sealed Knot i am writing on a different, sad topic. I don't know if it is on in anybody's interest (i guess for some it is) and that maybe it doesn't fit in this debate, but i didn't know where to post it:
JOHN BALANCE from COIL is dead!
This is from their website:
*
We are greatly saddened to have to you that at about 5.30 pm Saturday Nov 13th, Jhonn Balance, was killed in an accident at home.
Under the influence of alcohol he fell from the first floor landing, hitting his head on the floor some 15ft below.
Peter/Sleazy who was in the front room heard the noise, came out investigate and found him unconscious, though still breathing.
Balance was rushed to hospital, where his condition deteriorated, and he died soon after, without ever regaining consciousness.
There is no suggestion that this event was in any way deliberate, in fact, anything other than a tragic accident.
Unusually, Balance had been cheerfull during the day, and was looking forward to seeing Ian at the weekend, and working on new recordings this week.
Hi all,
as i always adhere to the point of view that there are as many versions of a musical work as there are listeners i won't try to discuss the various ways of perceiving of our record that the various listeners have, but will just point out that the hiccup between track two and three has occured when the cd was manufactured - the transition was seamless on my master (and sounded very good). I could not, however, throw away the entire batch of cds manufactured.
There might be a bit of a point when it comes to our trio's frequency range, the low range being mostly covered by Mark's tam tam, and i had thought of using a pitch shifer to underpin some of my cellotar notes with, say, a lower octave. Then again I can't afford any gear providing the quality needed, and it would also limit the range of things I can play. Mark is planning to use his double bass on our upcoming studio recodings (with his tam tam playing becoming a 'basis track', though, and this will certainly open up the frequency range we can cover. I had tried to use a thicker lowest string on the cellotar and tune it to a lower pitch than i'm doing now, but this simply won't work with the instrument's resonance, so that i had to drop the idea.
I think that the combination of composed and improvised material is an interesting path to take indeed (mind that my guitar teacher back in Paris always said that improvisation was 'instant composition' and I do agree with this statement), and I'm also highly interested in seeing +minus work with guest artists. +minus is a 'project in progress', i'm sure it'll keep growing as we go along, and working with varying basis tracks and musicians will help it to remain a living being.
All the best,
bernhard
Welcome, Bernhard. I hope by now Mark has sent you a copy of the review of the above which has just appeared in The Wire. I didn't find the track 2 / 3 hiccup worth mentioning; I was more interested in the music, to be honest. (Though I do share Michael's reservations about the tour diary thing, despite being a chatterbox myself.)
Posted by: Dan Warburton at November 19, 2004 10:35 PMcan we all please get over the tour diary, it is the least interesting aspect of the whole project. i'm not a journalist. bernhard had covered all the factual information. i thought it just a lighthearted company piece, different in content to what bernhard had already written. the tour itself took 6 months to set up and 7 days to complete. the tour diary took 40 minutes to write. it has absolutely no importance or consequence.
"I didn't find the track 2 / 3 hiccup worth mentioning; I was more interested in the music, to be honest."
if this is so dan, please can you say a little more about the music then? your wire review mentions little more than band facts, who plays what, when, where and how. jon abbey dismissed the cd, but doesn't say why in relation to the actual music. all in all, not very revealing to potential listeners.
i'd like to say i think brian's ARKV is an excellent review, thought out, honest without being cruel, probing and testing. he questions his own response to the music and looks at the material from various angles. genuine critique.
best, mark.
Posted by: mark wastell at November 20, 2004 4:32 AMIndeed there are as many versions of a musical work as there are listeners... I guess thats why one person's 'Melancholic Beauty' is another person's 'Grey and Dull' rut!!! as ever it all comes down to individual taste.
In my opinion the two +minus CDs have been amongst my favourite recordings of the year because they have focussed on a narrow aesthetic rather than in spite of it.
As Brian M said above, the live CD is a refinement of the music of the first studio sessions. To my ears much of the beauty (and indeed the tension) within the CD comes from this distillation of the frequency range and simplification of playing techniques. The music becomes very interesting and heads in places you don't often hear improv go.
The musicians looked very much at ease and in harmony by the last date of the live tour, but I am interested to know if the music became more mentally rigourous to perform as the sonic range was narrowed or vice versa.
Having reached this point however its great to hear from Bernhard that true to the spirit of the three musicians the group will evolve, change instrumentation and will work with other people for the next recordings.
I only hope the next rut the group gets into is just as inspiring and interesting as this one has been!!!
As far as the tour diary is concerned, perhaps its not the most gripping thing I've read all year and its possibly a missed opportunity. But then, considering 99% of CDs out there carry nothing but music I'm not about to criticise the 1% that go to the trouble of providing extra information and photos that would have been too costly to print as an insert.
Posted by: Richard Pinnell at November 20, 2004 4:45 AMconsidering 99% of CDs out there carry nothing but music I'm not about to criticise the 1% that go to the trouble of providing extra information and photos that would have been too costly to print as an insert.
using the same extreme percentage, I'd say that since 99% of cds released are just filler diluting the crop of great music, there isn't time for information that "has absolutely no importance or consequence."
And if we got rid of the '99%' there'd be more space for Dan to analyse the disc, and he wouldn't have to list so many facts for Wire Readers who are bombarded with hundreds of new releases every month and therefore cannot possibly keep tally on who the hell everyone is and what they play. ;)
I was talking about this sort of problem with some friends recently. Given the multitude of genres and musicians and cds, records, etc. it's difficult for anyone save a small core of people to be able to talk about certain groups with total familiarity. While this doesn't excuse reviews that are only factual lists, I see their necessity to some degree, however problematic.
I understand this glitch thing, though. A long time ago for a cd I never put out, I was trying to put a track mark smack in the middle of this deep sine tone, and the software just could not do it without producing a 'pop'. The software I use now wouldn't do that I think. Different methods, different advantages/disadvantages. That's a bummer it sounded okay on the master, but then I would think that's would be the manufacturer's fault. Maybe too much hassle to hassle them for another batch.
Posted by: Michael Rodgers at November 20, 2004 6:16 AMHi again,
i have just two small remarks to add: i'd like to underline that +minus is a perfectly democratically organized bunch - all decisions taken are taken by the three of us, be they of musical or other nature. None of us could have created this music without the other two.
Regarding the tour diary i think it is fun to read, and maybe gives an idea of what touring is like to those among the listeners who aren't musicians themselves (besides there is no line on the disc saying: 'reading the tour diary is compulsory' :)
Richard Pinnell wrote: 'I am interested to know if the music became more mentally rigourous to perform as the sonic range was narrowed or vice versa'. My general attitude as an artist has become to do the best that can be done with the sonic material at hand (after failing to be to strictly realize mentally preconceived work for years). It is an important lesson learned learned at the cost of months of depressing writer's blocks. I feel that my friends share this this attitude, and so we are looking at a dialectic relationship between material and playing, the two sides of one coin (as in form vs. content). The ever changing balance of material vs. playing / composition and form vs. content is what keeps music evolving - new questions, new answers.
all the best,
bernhard
So tell us already where the title and graphics originated.
Posted by: Dennis Gonzalez at January 16, 2005 11:08 AM...sorry about the double post.
...and why just 30 birds?
Can I have another imaginary phoneme?
Posted by: Dennis Gonzalez at January 16, 2005 11:10 AMThe answers to your questions are in the pdf file directly linked at
http://www.trenteoiseaux.com/catalog.html
i am a huge fan of the group plus minus and was looking for some recs on where to start exploring other bernhard gunter music. i know his first disk is a classic but im looking for what will sound best today not a historical record..
also is there a difference in packaging in the trente oiseaux disks which are listed as cdr's instead of cds
Posted by: saltwatersnow at March 20, 2006 6:03 PMMy favourite is "time, dreaming itself". Try it, maybe you'll like it as much as i do.
Back to +minus: does anybody know if the third is ready ? when is it scheduled for release ? [or maybe is it the fourth, counting "l'ecoute libere" - the one i sometimes like the most].
The Esquilo release, you mean? It's already out and already sold out!
http://www.paristransatlantic.com/magazine/monthly2006/02feb_text.html#8
No, not the Esquilo one, which is very good [BTW: its second edition (of 150) is now available, so those who had not got it yet, are able to do it], but the one with Clive Bell, Steve Roden and Toshimaru Nakamura.
Posted by: tadk at March 21, 2006 9:32 AMSaltwatersnow; "i know his first disk is a classic but im looking for what will sound best today not a historical record.."
Well to be honest I'm not certain what you mean here sws, but Un peu de neige salie is a classic and sounds great today because of that, so that would be my first recommendation.
Gunter has a really solid catalogue though that has evolved stylistically a lot more than he is usually given credit for down the years. If I was to make recommendations beyond Un peu... I would suggest you track down his two double CD sets on the Line label, Monochrome White / Polychrome with nails and Monochrome Rust / Differential. I can also add my weight behind tadk's choice Time, Dreaming, Itself and also Brown, Blue for Mark Rothko both on trente oiseaux. Not sure how easy those are to track down though, and the worrying recent disappearance of the t.o. website doesn't help matters.
Bernhard switched trente oiseaux to a cdr label a little while back to try and keep his spiralling production costs down. The later releases were cdr only and I think he has made cdrs of old out of print material available too.
As for the fourth +minus album, my understanding is that its not recorded yet, and if you asked me to place a bet I'd wager that it probably won’t actually happen any time soon, but I'm sure others know more than I do, so who knows. I certainly hope it happens at some point.
thanks everyone. What I meant about Un Peu was that I know its a classic but not all things regarded as classics are really better than an artists later work.
also anyone have any thoughts about the new duo gunter did by mail called ataxia of something close to that because the website is down i dont have the exact title. after reading the joke by kundera I'm curious to hear a cymbalon... however not curious enough to buy an album for that alone.
Richard, you're right, no new material by +minus is pending, and there are, to my knowledge, no plans for the group to record, at least in the near future.
Posted by: Brian Marley at March 21, 2006 12:22 PM.................................................. © 2003 - 2006 bagatellen ..................................................