Reviews of the Week: Downbeat grants two ECM releases four star reviews in its May issue James Hale writes on Vijay Iyers “Mutations” : The centerpiece of the recording is the 10-part title suite, which features Iyer’s writing for string quartet, piano and electronics. [...] In essence, it is string quartet-as-laptop, with repeating patters established and changed as they collide and interact with others. The wild card is personality and chance, with random elements sometimes entering the pattern and disturbing listener expectations. Like pebbles dropped into water, these unpredicted gestures set off new patterns and interactions. Occasionally, as on ‘Mutations VII: Kernel’, Iyer will react with a piano part that reflects his more familiar life as an improviser in the jazz tradition. At other junctures, the whole band moves as one, turning ‘Mutations IX: Descent’ into a chugging, rhythmic juggernaut that sounds like it is charging down the side of a mountain on rails. And Paul de Barros is fascinated by the Colin Vallon Trio’s new album “Le Vent”: Vallon’s glacial pace, trance-like repetitions and phase-music-like rate of change bear a kinship to minimalism. Yet for all its modernism, there is a medieval feel to this Swiss trio’s simple, folky, sometimes hymnlike melodies, which seem to float in space, untethered to concepts of time or harmony. [...] It’s fascinating, and accrues more and more interest with repeated listening. More selected reviews here: https://ecmrecords/News/Diary/486_Reviews_of_the_week_18_Apr_2014.php
Posted on: Wed, 23 Apr 2014 14:53:00 +0000
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