Ankersmit's first solo foray, last year's Live in Utrecht was praised by many, including myself, as a powerful and unique piece of abstraction mixing inorganic processed sounds with saxophone in an impressively diverse live setting. Here, with fellow composer Valerio Tricoli (3/4HadBeen Eliminated), the work is in a more traditional context, composed between 2008 and 2010, with the results being no less impressive than his solo live endeavor.
These five pieces embrace elements of both analog and digital, using both to create a unique balance that sounds like nobody else."Zwerm Voor Tithonus" wastes no time opening the album, immediately launching into shrill shimmering tones, radio static, and emergency sirens in a dense, aggressive mix that quickly disintegrates, leaving a spacious canyon of ambience, with lost fragments of sound echoing in the distance.Slowly the noisier vibe returns via layered and textural static, becoming disorienting and extremely obtuse, but fascinating all the while.
"Hunt" uses a similar template, putting heavily reverberated glitches and carefully restrained harsh squeals together into a dark miasma of sound.The impenetrable wall of sound eventually drops off to allow more subtle elements to be heard before becoming chaotic and messy again, with the multitude of unrecognizable sounds fully engulfing the composition.
Between these twin monoliths of difficult sound lie two shorter, more restrained and meditative pieces that weave the album together in a perfect balance."Brent Mini" is all subtle insect like cracklings and distant hums, creating a more tonal and sparse experience."Plague #7" uses chirpy synths and heavy drones to create a calm and peaceful, though still dense piece of music.
Closing the album is "T√¢hkt-e Tavus," which stands on its own conceptually as a piece focusing on Ankersmit's alto sax playing, which is slowly merged with a heavily treated, synthetic version of the same instrument, creating a wall of sound that is built brick by brick until the human and inhuman sounds are indistinguishable from one another.It is a brilliant work, both conceptually and sonically, and illustrates the strengths of these two young composers.
While they're working in a crowded field, Tricoli and Ankersmit have created an album that stands above many other imitators, carefully balancing the chaotic nature of their sound with careful and deliberate pacing and structuring.It's not quite light listening, but it is well worth the effort.
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