Somethingtobesaid
General
| Aug 2009
Reviews
Ben Wolfson
Reviewed 2010-06-20
Reviewed 2010-06-20
John Butcher Group / Somethingtobesaid
Hour-long electroacoustic piece (divided into tracks on cd) composed by Butcher for a festival; it's an octet of improvisers (including amazing local Gino Robair) who are mostly matched up into smaller formations. Definitely in the "lowercase" vein. Lots of drones, mostly slow tempo, not much fireworks. There are occasional disembodied, prerecorded voices, which I believe are Butcher's doing. For the most part the CD indices correspond to natural breaks in the piece.
All are good but I like best: 3, 5, 8
1. Soft swelling drones, gradually increasing in intensity, passing among the players. Polwechsel-like.
2. Loud electronic washes, clatter of cymbals, into abstract sax/bass duet.
3. Pretty & sparse piano-led improv, into a threatening, rumbly ensemble section.
4. Background drone with reedy squacks (may not be caused by reeds!), becomes kind of blissed-out backdrop for Robair's weird percussion tricks. Very sparse last third.
5. Slow-paced bass dominates the track (it is almost a bass solo); very *considered*-sounding playing. Sax and the prerecorded voices finish the track.
6. Piano/electronic swirls. This is one of the more active/dynamic tracks, and it seems as if most of the ensemble gets in on the act at some point. Piano stays to the fore for the most part.
7. Plaintive sax over ominous effects. Short!
8. Slow abstract buildup (interesting in itself) to sax solo
9. Soprano/piano duo, Polwechselish outro.
Hour-long electroacoustic piece (divided into tracks on cd) composed by Butcher for a festival; it's an octet of improvisers (including amazing local Gino Robair) who are mostly matched up into smaller formations. Definitely in the "lowercase" vein. Lots of drones, mostly slow tempo, not much fireworks. There are occasional disembodied, prerecorded voices, which I believe are Butcher's doing. For the most part the CD indices correspond to natural breaks in the piece.
All are good but I like best: 3, 5, 8
1. Soft swelling drones, gradually increasing in intensity, passing among the players. Polwechsel-like.
2. Loud electronic washes, clatter of cymbals, into abstract sax/bass duet.
3. Pretty & sparse piano-led improv, into a threatening, rumbly ensemble section.
4. Background drone with reedy squacks (may not be caused by reeds!), becomes kind of blissed-out backdrop for Robair's weird percussion tricks. Very sparse last third.
5. Slow-paced bass dominates the track (it is almost a bass solo); very *considered*-sounding playing. Sax and the prerecorded voices finish the track.
6. Piano/electronic swirls. This is one of the more active/dynamic tracks, and it seems as if most of the ensemble gets in on the act at some point. Piano stays to the fore for the most part.
7. Plaintive sax over ominous effects. Short!
8. Slow abstract buildup (interesting in itself) to sax solo
9. Soprano/piano duo, Polwechselish outro.
Recent airplay
Track 6
Memory Select — Aug 26, 2010
Track 2
Memory Select: Outsound Summit Preview — Jul 15, 2010
Track 1
Memory Select — Jul 08, 2010
Track 8
Jena & Gomorrah — Jun 22, 2010
Charting
2010-07-04 — 2010-09-05
Classical/Experimental
| Week Ending | Airplays |
|---|---|
| Aug 29 | 1 |
| Jul 18 | 1 |
| Jul 11 | 1 |
Track listing
| 1. | Track 1 | ||
| 2. | Track 2 | ||
| 3. | Track 3 | ||
| 4. | Track 4 | ||
| 5. | Track 5 | ||
| 6. | Track 6 | ||
| 7. | Track 7 | ||
| 8. | Track 8 | ||
| 9. | Track 9 |