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Oren Ambarchi, "Intermission 2000-2008"
This consists of five relatively lengthy works culled from an eclectic array of recordings by this renowned Aussie experimental guitarist. The unifying theme seems to be that all are rare or out-of-print, which should make completists quite happy (especially ones without record players). Those new to Ambarchi should probably go elsewhere first, but casual fans will likely find many pleasantly diverting (though not revelatory) moments here to tide them over until Oren's next album emerges.
The opening piece, "Intimidator," is from a 2006 collaboration with Anthony Pateras, who contributes prepared piano.It originally appeared as a vinyl-only bonus track on In The Pendulum’s Embrace and it certainly has a very "bonus track" feel to it.While not bad by any means, it is not particularly attention-grabbing either.The entire track is essentially just Ambarchi’s guitar quietly feeding back with occasional disruptive plinking and clanging metallic stabs from Pateras’s piano.Of course, the feedback subtly oscillates and Oren unleashes some of his trademark sub bass droning, but it is too understated to make much of an impression.
"Iron Waves" is a previously unreleased "remix" of a song by Paul Duncan.It’s a bit more interesting than "intimidator," as Ambarchi wrests some submerged-sounding bell-tones from his ax, which, coupled with the escalating feedback dissonance and an ominous low drone, evokes quite an atmosphere of menace.It ultimately becomes a pretty odd and confounding work though, as it is basically a decent, by-the-numbers Ambarchi soundscape that is intermittently (and somewhat purposelessly) muddied by guitar and vocal interludes from the original.Duncan is generally a likeable vocalist, but his singing here is too dour and overwrought for my taste. The two clumsily intertwined aesthetics yield less than the sum of their parts; I'm not quite sure why this exists.
The final three songs are sans collaborators and seemingly the better for it."Moving Violations" (from Touch’s 25th anniversary compilation) is a dense, buzzing, and crackling foray into deep, quivering bass drone that gradually coheres into a dissonant repeating riff of sorts."The Strouhal Number" is an early live recording (from 2000), yet strangely, it is the most immediately gratifying, melodic, and composed-sounding piece on the album.Naturally, Oren’s omnipresent subterranean drone and quiet crackle are on display, but he pleasingly augments that groundwork with a floating shimmer of bell-like tones (as well as some Pole-esque clicks and pops).It is quite a dream-like and beautiful ambient piece, and conspicuously divergent in tone from everything that surrounds it.
The closing track ("A Final Kiss on Poisoned Cheeks") is a much more recent live recording (from 2007) and, unsurprisingly, sounds entirely different than its predecessor.As always, the piece’s backbone is a low drone, but it is buried beneath a thick, vibrant, squirming morass of garbled bells, buzzes, and bleeps.It is the album’s longest track (at 20 minutes), and gradually increases in density until it becomes a chittering, grinding industrial roar.Around the halfway point, most of the cacophony drops out, leaving only sustained, clashing feedback tones and an erratically shifting pulse that gradually winnows down to a quiet coda of hissing metallic cymbals, murky swells, and somber bell-tones.
Intermission, aside from "The Strouhal Number," features very little in the way of melody and depends almost entirely on density and texture (and occasionally raw power).This (along with a similar aversion to rhythm) can make Ambarchi much more difficult to embrace than other experimental guitarist luminaries (such as Fennesz or Jim O’Rourke), as his pieces often lack conspicuous differentiating traits. Nevertheless, his understated mastery is amply evident to those that listen close enough to find beauty in oscillation.
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