“Mind-expanding”? envelopes torn into small pieces to be eaten? a “necessary albeit illusory anchor”? and why is “Diamanda Galás constantly on the verge of asphyxiation”? Dave Foxall, writing in a Jazz Noise and Jazz Journal, finds ‘Sirene 1009’ (BAF000), the album by Han-earl Park, Dominic Lash, Mark Sanders and Caroline Pugh, to be “full creative insanity”:
The Cliodynamics ‘suite’ begins with a recitation in an obscure (likely bespoke) language that rapidly deconstructs against the backdrop of Park’s angular, truncated proto-phrasing, Sanders’ demented clockwork drums, and Lash’s lower register punctuation. Pugh’s voice acts as a kind of guide, offering a frayed and twisted thread through a dynamic and often intimidating soundscape; a necessary albeit illusory anchor. A final wry touch is last two minutes of the closing Psychohistory V, a minimalist coda you have dial the volume right up to even hear—putting the listener in the position of chasing the chaos that moments earlier was so overwhelming.
If this attempt at description sounds rather confused, I’ll try to summarise: years ago, Derek Bailey coined the term ‘non-idiomatic improvisation’, a label that over the years has practically become an idiom in its own right. Sirene 1009 may just be the auditory experience that Bailey’s label has been waiting for. [Read the rest…]
— Dave Foxall (a Jazz Noise)
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London performance presented with funding from Culture Ireland, and support from SLAM Productions.