Here's a review I wrote that was published last week in the Orlando
Weekly:
<snip>
Electronic music stands separately from much of the history of
western music insofar as it's an art form that is explicitly designed
for recording - jazz, rock, and even classical music depend on the
performance of a work for it's flavor, and a recording is an
afterthought, added after the fact to make a salable product.
Electronic music, on the other hand has no such meat-space analog; the
recording IS the performance, and each blip and beep, each
characteristic of the sound is defined by the recording, instead of by a
given performance.
This is what makes the Acoustica album by Alarm Will Sound
interesting. It represents an attempt to take music that has no
equivalent in the world of instrumental performance, music that exists
as bit and bits alone, and translate - no, transliterate that music in
to a performance piece.
They certainly have the chops. A 22 piece orchestra, including
woodwinds, brass, strings, and four drummers have faithfully interpreted
the works of electronic golden-boy Aphex Twin. And that's no small
undertaking. The tracklist sticks with mostly with tracks from the
Druqs album, though a few pieces from other AFX releases sneak in as
well. Most impressive are those tracks that were originally most
phrenetic, such as Meltphace 6, and Mt. Saint Michel. The work
necessary to produce arrangements for such pieces boggles the mind.
Where in the original pieces, there are sounds that are purely
synthetic, Alarm Will Sound makes interesting approximations - a piccolo
substitutes for a high-pitched, filtered sine synth, for instance. The
more ambient pieces, such as Cliffs, seem more at home with this
instrumentation, and indeed, some, like Blue Calx, seem to improve by
the addition of humanized variation in tone.
As a final touch, the album includes two remixes as the final
tracks - electronic remixes of the acoustic versions of the originally
digital Aphex Twin songs - an excellent meta-level upon which to close a
very "meta" kind of album.
Aphex Twin fans will find this album intriguing, as will serious
music students, and those interested in contemporary classical music -
casual listeners might find the sound a little too subtle. A live
performance of the work is scheduled for the end of July in New York -
we can only hope that it will mark the beginnings of a tour. Acoustica
was designed to bring electronic compositions out of the computer and
into the Real World, and it's almost a shame to banish such a work back
to the cold, digital realm of recording alone. This is a work that
wants to breathe real air in front of a real audience.
-ian
-----Original Message-----
From: Richard Devine [mailto:rdevine@mindspring.com]
Sent: Monday, July 11, 2005 2:47 AM
To: Dennis DeSantis; idm@hyperreal.org
Subject: Re: [idm] Alarm Will Sound performs Aphex Twin
Yes, this CD is amazing! Also check them out live in New York
"Unremixed"
Alarm Will Sound
Richard Devine
Sunday, July 24, 9 p.m.
Allen Room
Tickets: $28
The Allen Room is located on the 5th floor of the Time Warner Center at
Broadway and 60th St.
The box office is located in The Shops at Columbus Circle inside the
Broadway at 60th Street entrance.
Directions:
By subway: Take the A, B, C, D, #1 or #9 trains to 59th Street/Columbus
Circle.
Thanks
RD
quoted 11 lines Alarm Will Sound performs Aphex Twin: Acoustica
> Alarm Will Sound performs Aphex Twin: Acoustica
> Cantaloupe Music (CA21028)
> http://www.cantaloupemusic.com/
>
> The long-awaited followup to their acclaimed all-Steve Reich debut,
> ALARM WILL SOUND (http://www.alarmwillsound.com/), the young 22-piece
> new music band featuring voices, strings, brass, woodwinds, and
> percussionists, takes on APHEX TWIN in ACOUSTICA.
>
> Alarm Will Sound, who the NY Times calls "the future of classical
> music," has, with a cadre of 10 arrangers, painstakingly recreated andquoted 5 lines rethought 13 tracks from the Aphex Twin catalog for an all-acoustic
> rethought 13 tracks from the Aphex Twin catalog for an all-acoustic
> ensemble. From creative new transcription ideas to using non-standard
> "classical music" instruments to ensuring that all four drummers are
> kept busy with Aphex Twin's unimaginably intricate beats, this sounds
> like no CD you've heard before. With 2 bonus remixes of the remixes byquoted 7 lines Dennis DeSantis.
> Dennis DeSantis.
>
> Tracklisting and audio clips at:
> http://www.bangonacan.org/store/item.html?sku=CA21028&cart=11210133796
> 93070
>
> Also, catch Alarm Will Sound in a live performance of the album at thequoted 3 lines Lincoln Center Festival, July 24, with special guest RICHARD DEVINE.
> Lincoln Center Festival, July 24, with special guest RICHARD DEVINE.
> http://www.lincolncenter.org/search/results.asp?txtKeyword=alarm
>
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org
For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org
---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: idm-unsubscribe@hyperreal.org
For additional commands, e-mail: idm-help@hyperreal.org