hymn - 'silence, then birds'

(confront collectors series ccs 96)

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***CD EDITION SOLD OUT***

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chris dowding - trumpets & electronics

sylvia hallett - violin, bicycle wheel, saw & electronics

david ross - davestation

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Tracks 1 & 3 recorded at St. Paul’s Sessions, at St. Paul’s Church, Marylebone, on 5th May 2018. Track 2 recorded at Camouflage, at Anteros, Norwich, on 4th July 2018.

 

Mixed by Sylvia Hallett and mastered by Richard Scott. 

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"Three discreetly unfolding improvisations, courtesy of Chris Dowding on trumpet, Sylvia Hallett on violin, bicycle wheel and saw, and Dave Ross on “Davestation”. The trio operate electronics as well; in particular, the Davestation is a hardware based control voltage time modulator (I’ve learned this from the liners to another album involving Ross, an ingenious manufacturer of unusual instruments from poor materials). 

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The music oscillates between an asymmetrical adagio and a somewhat subaquatic variety of Jon Hassell-ish hallucinatory soundscape, echoing fragments of melody acting as guide lights through a floating quasi-stasis. The original timbres are sparsely perceived, the ears comfortably adjusting to their persistent transfiguration. The task is made easier by a generally unhurried pace; the actual notes played (make that the sheer gestures required to produce a tone, or a mere noise) are rather few. A slight exception might be the beginning of the second track “Camouflage, Last Peace”: one pictures the musicians throwing all the raw ingredients at once in a shape-twisting mechanism, then relaxing to watch the outcome while adding more snippets and shards as the minutes elapse. 

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At any rate, metamorphic processing and looping represent the virtual spine of this strange yet captivating sonic organism. It doesn’t take long to get seduced: in a rare instance, the record works fine both in “intense listening” mode and as an active complement for silent reflection. However, don’t you dare labeling it as “ambient”: the room’s furniture may not welcome those throbs, bubbles and protrusions from some obscure micro-galaxy. But you will.

(Massimo Ricci)