Articles
2007 Ten Favourite Labels
Backtracking Greg Davis
Shackleton Interview

Albums
John Luther Adams
Joseph Auer
Commix
Dartriix
Floratone
Furniture
Shuta Hasunuma
Richard Hawley
Hologram
Icarus
Kiln
Kobol
Labradford
Last Days
M83
Mai
Darren McClure
Near the Parenthesis
David Newlyn
Objekt4
OK Ikumi
Ontayso
Wendel Patrick
Phon°noir
Pocahaunted / Robedoor
Poostosh
Prefuse 73
Quosp
Rapoon
The Retail Sectors
Skull Disco
Socos
Supersilent
Tigrics
Trentemøller
Zuydervelt / Baars / Veld.

Compilations/Mixes
Airport Symphony
Devil in the Detail
Dinky
EXPANSION | contraction
Funckarma
Little Darla v. 25
One Five Zero
Playgroup / Alter Ego
Signal Path
Soul Jazz Singles
U-cover Mix 03 [IDM]
Ricardo Villalobos
We Are All Cotton-Hearted
Well Deep

3"/ 7"/ 10"/ 12"/ EPs
Basic Unit
Bodycode
Kit Clayton & Sutekh
Dartriix
Ditch
INKlings
Insanic4
Lackluster
Najem Sworb
Ontayso
Sutekh
The Tamborines
Telafonica
Zainetica

John Luther Adams: Red Arc/Blue Veil
Cold Blue

American composer John Luther Adams roots the provocative pieces comprising Red Arc/Blue Veil in a distinctive universe where pianos and percussion sonically evoke the majesty of natural phenomena. Despite changes in instrumentation (one piece features two pianos, while another two bass drums), each of the four works emphasizes a buildup of multi-layered, polyrhythmic blocks of sound and compositional development that seems to unfold in slow motion.

Dark Waves, presented in a 2007 arrangement for two pianos (played by Stephen Drury and Yukiko Takagi) and processed material (an electronic aura derived from the acoustic instruments' sounds), quite literally rises and falls in waves of perfect fifths. The pianos swell into dynamic clusters of crushing force—Adams' own description, “a tsunami of sound,” is not inaccurate—yet at the same time seem to gracefully bound through the upper stratospheres. Naturally, the title calls to mind La Mer and Dark Waves does share with it an impressionistic quality, but Adams ' piece is more turbulent and plunges deeper. A melodic dimension is, of course, present but the album's four pieces are first and foremost about physicality, and the brute force of percussive sound. Nowhere is that more evident than in the second piece, Among Red Mountains (2001), where Drury's piano chords violently rain down like hammer blows. The relentless and incessant assault is so dizzying, it's easy to lose sight of the piece's guiding idea, the realization of five simultaneous yet independent tempo planes by two hands.

Obviously the least conventionally melodic of the four pieces, Qilyaun (1998), an Iñupiaq word for the shaman's drum and that, literally translated, means “device of power,” is performed by two percussionists (Scott Deal and Stuart Gerber) playing bass drums. Best appreciated via headphones, the piece opens with urgent, rapid-fire rolls that then gradually decelerate until they're reduced to single blows (though a roll can be heard simmering in the background) before, predictably, accelerating again during the piece's final third. Though obviously the instrumentation is minimal, the subtle shift in emphasis as rolls in one channel overlap with those in the other manages to uphold listening interest. Rich instrumental colour provided by vibraphone and crotales enhances the billowing piano streams of Red Arc/Blue Veil (2001), while processed sounds (again derived directly from the acoustic instruments) add a swarm-like overlay, and function as a fourth instrument of sorts. Not only here but in the other three pieces too, Adams' music might be likened to powerful glacial masses whose movements are so slow they're imperceptible.

December 2007