By Nick Ostrum
In the Splitter Orchester, one hears a convergence of trends that bridge
new orchestral music and big band free jazz. There is a group sotto voce,
wherein larger and larger units play quietly, creating timbral textures
that largely eschew the natural dynamic range posed by the instruments at
hand. There is also the use of field recordings, or, in this case,
recording in the field. The wind, the cars, the passers-by, the environs of
the recording become part of the performance, at times gobbling up the band
and at others providing the sonic backdrop, a sort of non-rhythmic rhythm
section used in a way that many musicians now use background electronics.
In both of these themes, one hears echoes of the Insub Orchestra and, in
the latter (disc 3 in this release), the related but self-consciously
bucolic
Polytopies project
, though far be it from me to claim which group inspires which, or whether
this is just an avenue many groupings are exploring autonomously.
Disc one of splitter musik, Vortex, begins quietly and builds
slowly, with the odd cluck and hiss here, bass pluck there, other noises of
various derivations darting back and forth. At about 19 minutes, a brief
trumpet fanfare, then a barrage of saxes, breakthrough and incite a
powerful crescendo, followed by an extended plain of varying levels of
activity. Think: Seven Storey Mountain, but steelier. The music is hardly
harmonious, but the components work together toward an oddly variegated
stasis. Disc two, Imagine Splinter, has a busier and fuller sound that
vacillates between the new big band sound described above and droning sound
art. More traditionally musical elements pop up from time to time, but in
flits. Muffled voices pop in after about a decade, and various percussion
hint at a rhythm. Inevitably, these features converge into a thrumming
crescendo. The effect is as if Tim Olive or someone of his ilk were leading
an orchestra. Disc three is a different beast. Apparently recorded in the
open air (or with quite convincing field recordings), Pas involves voices,
sonic scenes of feet tromping through water, chiming bells (or water drops
on metal) and various other environmental sounds. Long tone explorations
distinguish the band from the ambient foreground, but the interaction
between the two is key: it sounds as if they are all vying for space. The
tones eventually disjoint from each other and short punctuated clusters
meet children’s voices and giggles in a playful section that sounds as if
the band has found a live and lively audience. This passage gives way to
the tromping that comes earlier, now accompanied by heavy scrapes and
quavers. By the end, the piece relaxes. The voices appear again, as do the
water sounds and a drone, which draws Pas to its conclusion.
This is a big album, in terms of time and sound. It is not loud but
expansive. I would not necessarily suggest swallowing all three discs in a
single sitting, but I also would not deter you if you can dedicate the
time. That is what I did the first time, and, to my surprise, it held up
for those three hours. And, it has held up on subsequent listens,
admittedly in shorter chunks, as I tried to make sense of it for this
review. I am not sure that I have unlocked its code, but I can say for
certain that splitter musik is riveting and, after many spins,
continues to offer new clues and new points of intrigue.
Splitter musik is available as a CD and download from bandcamp.
In case the review has not hooked you, yet, here is the line-up, which
consists of many key figures from the current
echtzeit scene
: Liz Allbee (trumpet), Boris Baltschun (analog synthesizer), Burkhard
Beins (percussion), Anthea Caddy (cello, electric bass) Anat Cohavi
(clarinet), Mario de Vega (electronics), Axel Dörner (trumpet), Kai
Fagaschinski (clarinet), Robin Hayward (tuba), Steve Heather (percussion),
Chris Heenan (contrabass clarinet), Mike Majkowski (double bass,
electronics), Magda Mayas (clavinet, harmonium), Matthias Müller
(trombone), Andrea Neumann (inside piano, mixer, hydrophones), Morten Joh
(percussion), Simon James Phillips (organ, piano, Korg CX3), Jules Reidy
(guitar), Ignaz Schick (electronics, turntables), Michael Thieke
(clarinet), Clayton Thomas (double bass), Sabine Vogel (flutes,
hydrophones), Biliana Voutchkova (violin), Marta Zapparoli (tape decks,
hydrophones, radio receivers, antennas).