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BEYONDSpontaneousAbstractionsOn Decentred (Another Timbre 18; 68:57)AAA 1 /2 Tom Chant (reeds), Angharad Davies(violins, objects), Benedict Drew (electronics,objects) and John Edwards (bass) deal withcompositions that demand improvisationalacumen. Three works by Michael Pisaro,aural interpretations of specific poems, areduets serving up hovering long tones ofvarying density, while “Four 6”—one ofJohn Cage’s late “number” pieces—directsthe musicians to use 12 pre-determinedsounds of their own choosing within timebracketsCage had determined randomlywith a computer program. Needless to say,these works, as well as two superb groupimprovisations, rely heavily on the spontaneousinvention of the performers.Ordering info: anothertimbre.comThe French duo of reedist Marc Baronand bassist Loic Blairon—performing underthe name Narthex—subject their abstractimprovisations to some rigorous processing,both editorial and electronic on theirFormnction (Potlatch 209: 60:00) AA 1 /2.Baron and Blairon recorded six 30-minuteimprovisations and selected five-minuteexcerpts from each. These snippets werecombined to form a new 30-minute piece,where background noise holds togetherterse saxophone blurts and cries, thornybass sounds and bits of high frequencyfeedback. The duo created a digital interpretationof the piece, where all saxophone andbass sounds were replaced, respectively,with 1,000 and 500 Hz frequencies, withbackground noise edited out. The ideas areinteresting, but it doesn’t necessarily makefor pleasurable listening.Ordering info: potlatch.frTriptych (Important 260: 61:38) AAAA isone of two recently unearthed works by thebrilliant French electronic music composerEliane Radigue. The first of this three-partopus was commissioned for a dance piecein 1978, but all of the sections work gorgeouslytogether, a dreamy, austere meditationon nature’s four basic elements createdon an ARP 2500 synthesizer. As with most ofher work, the development of warm, quietlyenveloping drones is lavishly unhurried,with gently undulating sound waves throbbingat the edge of audibility and, indeed,suggesting an electronic translation ofsounds of the outdoors. Floating over thesumptuous low-end are upper register flurriesthat give the music an uncanny 3-D feel.Ordering info: importantrecords.comby Peter MargasakKatherine Young:PolyphonicnavigatorKatherine Young, a member of the chambergroup Till By Turning and AnthonyBraxton’s Falling River Quartet, makes seriouslybold leaps for the bassoon on FurtherSecret Origins (Porter 4039; 46:22) AAA 1 /2.Although a few tracks employ minor overdubsand some vinyl surface noise, Youngproduced most of the sounds live, usingmultiple mics to capture different facets ofher notoriously difficult double reed. Shemakes the most of its unwieldy low-end,using quavering long tones, extreme polyphonics,percussive breath manipulation,and wonderfully striated, sour phrases toconstruct a music of surprising diversity andrichness.Ordering info: porterrecords.comThe compositions of Austrian guitaristBurkhard Stangl, a former member ofPolwechsel, and German clarinetist KaiFagaschinski arrive at a stunning nexus ofpretty lyricism and pure abstraction onMusik: Ein Porträt In Sehnsucht (Erstwhile57: 46:57) AAAA. They complement theirmain instruments with piano, vibraphoneand evocative environmental recordings,but even at its most minimal and gesturebasedthe duo manage to spin melody fromlong tones, variegated drones, variousextended techniques and gorgeouslyabstruse harmony.Ordering info: erstwhilerecords.comOn Backchats (Creative Sources 149:53:46) AAAA the European quartet SpeakEasy uses the quicksilver analog synthesizersquiggles and stabs of Thomas Lehn andthe scrabbling percussion of Martin Blumeto sandwich the otherworldly vocal acrobaticsof Phil Minton and Ute Wassermann.Here the singers produce sounds just asabstract and unidentifiable as any instrumentalist,interacting and prodding not justone another, but their other two cohorts, ina dazzling rise-and-fall blowout. DBOrdering info: creativesourcesrec.comPORTER RECORDSMay 2010 DOWNBEAT 61