Loopholes
View record and artist detailsRecord and Artist Details
Composer or Director: Barak Schmool, Charlie Barber, Max Richter, Richard Harris, Julia Wolfe
Label: Argo
Magazine Review Date: 2/1995
Media Format: CD or Download
Media Runtime: 71
Mastering:
DDD
Catalogue Number: 443 527-2ZH
Tracks:
Composition | Artist Credit |
---|---|
Kantilgan Karangan |
Charlie Barber, Composer
Charlie Barber, Composer Piano Circus |
Cake Music |
Max Richter, Composer
Max Richter, Composer Piano Circus |
Gongstream |
Max Richter, Composer
Max Richter, Composer Piano Circus |
Rain, Sun, etc |
Max Richter, Composer
Max Richter, Composer Piano Circus |
Hexada |
Richard Harris, Composer
Piano Circus Richard Harris, Composer |
Swive |
Richard Harris, Composer
Piano Circus Richard Harris, Composer |
Stolen train |
Barak Schmool, Composer
Barak Schmool, Composer Piano Circus |
my lips from speaking |
Julia Wolfe, Composer
Julia Wolfe, Composer Piano Circus |
Author: Michael Stewart
I am not sure what to make of this latest disc from Piano Circus. Half of it seems to be made up of music that, although admittedly tuneful and catchy, is ultimately rather inconsequential, while the other half consists of harder-edged music which, although not without more interest, is pretty inconsequential stuff too. I hate to be a damp squib about this, but compared with some of their previous releases this disc gives the distinct impression that Piano Circus are rapidly running out of repertoire.
The lighter items on the disc consist of pieces composed by two members of the ensemble. Richard Harris's Hexada (literally ''a dance for six'') consists of a jazzy central section, with overtones of Milhaud and Malcolm Arnold, flanked by two uneventful outer sections of slow moving chords. Swive, also by Harris, sounds nothing more than a blues/jazz jamming session, and very much like one of those slick theme tunes for an American TV sitcom. Max Richter's trilogy of contributions, Cake Music, Gongstream and Rain, Sun,etc., sound so wildly disparate that it is hard to imagine them coming from the same pen. Of the three, the most enjoyable is Cake Music, which comes over as an African/Jamaican rumba-type mixture ethnic and very catchy. Gongstream however, is a tedious experimental essay in making six pianos sound like a ''vast imaginary gong'', whilst Rain, Sun, etc. seems to pay homage to various 1980s rock bands as it patters innocuously along its way.
The remaining three pieces are a further mixed bag. Charlie Barber's Kantilan Karagan is one of those East-meets-West affairs, this time heavily constructed around Balinese gamelan techniques and performed here on what sound like sampling keyboards imitating metalaphones, vibraphones and so on. Barak Schmool's Stolen Train, said by the composer to represent ''the chaos and disaster expected to accompany the Conservative Party's plan of future rail privatisation'', is a curious piece (involving five pianos, one prepared piano and a typewriter) which sounds more like a product of the late 1960s (Boulez) than the early 1990s from which it dates is this a tongue-in-cheek piece? I can't quite tell. At 17 minutes Julia Wolfe's my lips from speaking is one of the most substantial items here, but like the Schmool also sounds like an overspill from the 1960s, particularly with its forearm smashes and long meaningful silences. The work was inspired, however, by the artistry of Aretha Franklin.
All in all, then, not an unpleasant disc, but not exactly a revelatory or exhilarating one either. What Piano Circus desperately need are a few really substantial pieces they can get their collective teeth into, a concertante work for six keyboards and orchestra perhaps: now there's a thought.'
The lighter items on the disc consist of pieces composed by two members of the ensemble. Richard Harris's Hexada (literally ''a dance for six'') consists of a jazzy central section, with overtones of Milhaud and Malcolm Arnold, flanked by two uneventful outer sections of slow moving chords. Swive, also by Harris, sounds nothing more than a blues/jazz jamming session, and very much like one of those slick theme tunes for an American TV sitcom. Max Richter's trilogy of contributions, Cake Music, Gongstream and Rain, Sun,
The remaining three pieces are a further mixed bag. Charlie Barber's Kantilan Karagan is one of those East-meets-West affairs, this time heavily constructed around Balinese gamelan techniques and performed here on what sound like sampling keyboards imitating metalaphones, vibraphones and so on. Barak Schmool's Stolen Train, said by the composer to represent ''the chaos and disaster expected to accompany the Conservative Party's plan of future rail privatisation'', is a curious piece (involving five pianos, one prepared piano and a typewriter) which sounds more like a product of the late 1960s (Boulez) than the early 1990s from which it dates is this a tongue-in-cheek piece? I can't quite tell. At 17 minutes Julia Wolfe's my lips from speaking is one of the most substantial items here, but like the Schmool also sounds like an overspill from the 1960s, particularly with its forearm smashes and long meaningful silences. The work was inspired, however, by the artistry of Aretha Franklin.
All in all, then, not an unpleasant disc, but not exactly a revelatory or exhilarating one either. What Piano Circus desperately need are a few really substantial pieces they can get their collective teeth into, a concertante work for six keyboards and orchestra perhaps: now there's a thought.'
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