RENAISSANCE MUSIC FROM SPAIN AND ENGLAND (Songbird Music) 7.5/10 At its best early music is not just an artistic time-machine, but an insight into the psyche of humanity in another era. While reverence is commendable, even more important is a willingness to buy into the present tense of the music;…
Category: Album Reviews
NEUROTICA (Cluster) 7/10 James Muller has a way of making a melody line dance, of making it twitch and contort. However fast the line the guitarist loads the phrasing with nuances of rhythm and also dynamics, so the notes jostle and collide as they come hurtling at you. Sometimes they…
AMORPHAE (ECM) 9.5/10 Paul Motian’s death stopped this album in its tracks. Guitarist Ben Monder had planned it to be duets with the master-drummer, to which end a session in late 2010 generated two astounding tracks. Motian died before they could return to the project, but thankfully Monder did not…