Work/Death - Ruptural Strictures [arbor]

Two shortish pieces for piano (and electronics) on this tape from Scott Reber. Both of which are not really ‘noise’ as such. Even at their densest there’s a distinct lack of overload, an attention to dynamics and structure that makes it sound more like the work of contemporary a contemporary improvisor/composer than an out-and-out noisician. Side A is played inside the piano, Side B on the keys (with the assistance of Meagan Grundberg, Sakiko Mori and Geoff Mullen), both are treated in some sort of cumulative wash of processing. The perfect outline of clouds from below leaves the sustain pedal firmly down throughout, then adding seemingly interminable electronic decays to the natural reverberations of the piano. The gestural moves here wouldn’t sound out of place in a modernist prepared piano composition, at times even echoing David Tudor’s handling of the instrument’s guts. The electronic treatments Reber uses rarely transform these source actions: fingers sweep across whole sections of the piano, objects clatter against them and the occasional frame tap and struck key; but they do go to work after the fact. Though the use of delay is by no means a whitewash echoes do seem to return bounced off a distant wall and each new sound adding overtones to a low morass that wells up over the duration gathering into a dark and grainy cloud by the close.

By the end of May the Universe provide or not we are as close to noise territory as the tape gets, and a far cry from the beginning of the piece. A softly muttered “ok” is cut short at the start, flagging up the ‘liveness’ of this take for multiple pianos (or mutiple hands), there follows a short and fairly harmonious section of semi-random notes, like the most tonal possible outcome of two Cage number pieces being played simultaneously. As the brooding electronics (all square and sawtooth waved this time) begin to respond the notes become more interrupted: muted by a meddling hand on strings, only half played; and far more scattershot, quickly discarding their tonality. The electronic growl intensifies, all distorted snarling gradually overriding the attacks of the piano, though never obliterating it. A really excellent tape.

I have now got six tapes from Scott’s own Three Songs of Lenin imprint which I intend to write up here at some point. Though I’m kind of wishing I had left this one until last, as I don’t really feel any of them are likely to better it.

Sold out from arbor but a few stray copies left here.