Articles
Terrence Dixon
Ten Favourite Labels 2012

Albums
1982 + BJ Cole
Oren Ambarchi
Balmorhea
Alexander Berne
Born Gold
Carlyle & Cox
Kate Carr and Gail Priest
Paul Corley
Deison
Roland Etzin
Yuichiro Fujimoto
Glissando
Godspeed You! Bl. Emp.
Ivar Grydeland
Hakimonu
Hammock
Sophie Hutchings
Kane Ikin
Jeanne Jolly
Paul Mac
Michael Mayer
David Michael
Moskus
David Newlyn
No Regular Play
Numina
Oskar Offermann
Olan Mill
Padna
Pelt
Rone
Roomful of Teeth
Bruno Sanfilippo
Valgeir Sigurdsson
The Sleep Of Reason
Jessica Sligter
Slow Dancing Society
Prins Thomas
The Use Of Ashes
Maarten van der Vleuten
Stian Westerhus
Wires Under Tension
Woolfy vs. Projections

Reissue
William Basinski

EPs
Elektro Guzzi
Glacis
Porya Hatami
Maps & Diagrams
Stephan Mathieu
Michael Trommer

Oren Ambarchi: Audience of One
Touch

I especially like Oren Ambarchi's Audience of One for the contrasting turns it takes as it makes its way through its four vinyl sides: the first's vocal-based setting is far removed from the instrumental throwdown that blazes across sides two and three, and the closing side follows a nuanced moodscape with a—wait for it—Ace Frehley cover, of all things. One of the things that elevates the project is Ambarchi's openness to the collaborative input of others, whether it be the vocal presence of Paul Duncan or the jazz-styled heat stoked by the virtuosic drummer Joe Talia on the thirty-three-minute “Knots.” Interestingly, though Ambarchi's reputation in part stems from his guitar playing, Audience of One largely de-emphasizes it for ensemble playing and doesn't suffer as a result. The set's a remarkable and wide-ranging addition to an impressive discography the Australian multi-instrumentalist has been building over the course of many years.

As mentioned, Paul Duncan (from the group Warm Ghost) guests on “Salt,” which he co-composed with Ambarchi. It's a relatively short piece, though its five minutes is still long enough to leave a strong impression, especially when Duncan's distinctive, multi-tracked baritone appears within a beatless arrangement heavy on guitar, strings, and piano. Ambarchi shows off his textural side in crafting a quiet bed of guitar plucks and atmospheric keyboard tones for Duncan's voice, a base nicely supplemented by the caress of Elizabeth Welsh's violin and James Rushford's viola.

“Knots” is to some degree an exercise in simmering slow-burn as it devotes a good amount of time sketching out the terrain before catching fire. It's Ambarchi, whose droning guitar shadings are initially atmospheric, and Talia who set the scene, with the latter's insistent cymbal patterns the driving force. The glacial development of the opening ten minutes gives the piece an improv-styled feel, as if the in-studio players are monitoring each others' moves and collectively preparing for the lift-off they and we know will eventually come. After the bluster of the French horn moves to the forefront, Talia intensifies his attack by augmenting the cymbals with aggressive drumming, fills, and crashes. Other instruments take their place at the frontlines, too, including cello, autoharp, and guitar, until the freakout, in the form of Ambarchi's wild, distortion-heavy electric guitar solo, arrives. It's the detonating element that threatens to shatter the material, but Talia somehow manages to keep things on track throughout the episode until horn and string tones emerge to add an additional stabilizing presence (credit for which should extend, in part, to violinist Eyvind Kang who not only plays on the track but is also responsible for its arrangement of strings and horns). The drums gradually disappear altogether, leaving strings and horns to comment reflectively alongside fragmented guitar strafings as the piece winds down.

November 2012