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| Track list: 9. Traces VII 10. Traces VIII 11. Shushiki 12. Hoy, Nazan 13. Traces IX 14. Traces X 15. Angel Of Girona / Qeler Tsoler Running time: 39 minutes Released: 2016 |
Disc 2 of Atmosphères. I have continued track list numerically, because I can, and because that is how it was represented when I looked it up wherever it was I copied it from.
Yesterday I loved part 1; the opening notes of this disc though leave a fair bit to be desired. Chaotic is probably the best word for it. Entropic. Not musical, more a collection of snatched sounds from the various instruments and samples rather than a piece to be enjoyed. Cohesion comes into the picture a bit more as the tune finds its feet but it is still a far cry from the best strains of yesterday's enjoyment - the mellow and caressed playing is nowhere in sight. And this track is 9 minutes long. Poles apart from yesterday.
I am a frustrated man this evening. Back to work tomorrow morning for a very busy day, and one of my main aims for the weekend has been shot down. Twice I went round the neighbours' place to talk to them about the damp situation that my plumber and building inspector both thought was likely to be a leak on their side; twice no answer. The first time I think they were out, but the second time, windows open, washing out... no answer all the same. Frustrating. Need to get their landlord's phone number because if there is a leak their side I can't repair the damage on mine with any confidence. I was hoping that some gloriously created jazz themes might be the antidote to that frustration, but this digression is because Traces VII never does come together as an enjoyable piece. It gets less cacophonous and more considered in places but the overall impression is still far from favourable.
This is the only really long piece on disc 2. Like the first half, this part of Atmosphères is made up of more bitesize numbers, with the other 6 all under that many minutes. Traces VIII is a little more akin to the glories of disc 1 but it still seems to me to have an edge to it, a tension and a starkness. The trumpet is taut, bleak and stretched in places, the piano wandering the lower registers of its keyboard. Isolation and unease are two major impressions that I am getting. At this point, I think I will welcome the two Komitas tunes to come, and I find myself wondering if that is why they ordered the tracks in this way.
I got some proper exercise today, getting out cycling. I didn't go far really - probably no further in fact than my previous two exploratory forays - but what I did do is leave town and do a stretch which involved no stopping or slowing for the first time since I bought the bike. Glad I did, though I felt like I was dying after I made it back (not before mind; only once I was back in the door). They say it's good for you, you know.
Yesterday I loved part 1; the opening notes of this disc though leave a fair bit to be desired. Chaotic is probably the best word for it. Entropic. Not musical, more a collection of snatched sounds from the various instruments and samples rather than a piece to be enjoyed. Cohesion comes into the picture a bit more as the tune finds its feet but it is still a far cry from the best strains of yesterday's enjoyment - the mellow and caressed playing is nowhere in sight. And this track is 9 minutes long. Poles apart from yesterday.
I am a frustrated man this evening. Back to work tomorrow morning for a very busy day, and one of my main aims for the weekend has been shot down. Twice I went round the neighbours' place to talk to them about the damp situation that my plumber and building inspector both thought was likely to be a leak on their side; twice no answer. The first time I think they were out, but the second time, windows open, washing out... no answer all the same. Frustrating. Need to get their landlord's phone number because if there is a leak their side I can't repair the damage on mine with any confidence. I was hoping that some gloriously created jazz themes might be the antidote to that frustration, but this digression is because Traces VII never does come together as an enjoyable piece. It gets less cacophonous and more considered in places but the overall impression is still far from favourable.
This is the only really long piece on disc 2. Like the first half, this part of Atmosphères is made up of more bitesize numbers, with the other 6 all under that many minutes. Traces VIII is a little more akin to the glories of disc 1 but it still seems to me to have an edge to it, a tension and a starkness. The trumpet is taut, bleak and stretched in places, the piano wandering the lower registers of its keyboard. Isolation and unease are two major impressions that I am getting. At this point, I think I will welcome the two Komitas tunes to come, and I find myself wondering if that is why they ordered the tracks in this way.
I got some proper exercise today, getting out cycling. I didn't go far really - probably no further in fact than my previous two exploratory forays - but what I did do is leave town and do a stretch which involved no stopping or slowing for the first time since I bought the bike. Glad I did, though I felt like I was dying after I made it back (not before mind; only once I was back in the door). They say it's good for you, you know.
The music has definitely taken another step towards coherence and recognisable tunes. Not as astounding as those on the first half, but better in that regard (and in favour) than the first two numbers of tonight's attention. The main piano theme in Shushiki is gorgeous, the space they have filled around it somewhat less so. Another beautiful piano melody strikes up as that one dies. Hoy, Nazan quickly becoming my favourite so far this evening. There is a wonderful clarity about the sound of the keys here, up and down the scale, played quickly as fingers flicker hither and yon. The other instruments exist only to offer support, as it should be. This is more like it, but very fleeting.
Two more Traces next. The first one is all wandering sounds... like an empty pitch black room where things collide occasionally. You hear the silence as a sense of space - walls enclosing you as the darting noises come and go. It segues from a piano melody to the trumpet at some point... melody in the loosest sense of the word. Like on the first disc I see them building a real, well, atmosphere through their playing. Unlike yesterday I am failing to find the magic in the creations. Maybe that speaks more to my mindset, my frustration coming through, but I think there is a tonal shift here. Less beautifully played soft piano pieces with haunting backing, more haunting backing with occasional tune surfacing. It feels kind of backwards. The final Trace is a low rumble, two minutes with virtually nothing else to it, then a brief hint of a tune. It isn't enough, but when it does start building the swells of sound are really very appealing, subtlety restored and bringing rewards. Perhaps this second post is prejudiced by the first. I had no expectations yesterday; today they were high and largely dashed.
The final number is a lonely trumpet calling out over wandering bassy keys and the now de rigueur atmospherics. The trumpet has an Asian or Middle-Eastern aspect to it; fitting. The close comes with the sound of waves, sweeping in and washing away the final trace. Overall, Atmosphères is still very good - but I found this second half far less enthralling than the first. Right place, right time perhaps.
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