FOOD - This Is Not A Miracle
ECM 473 9039
Thomas Strønen (drums, electronics, percussion, moog, fender rhodes); Iain Ballamy (saxophones, electronics) with Christian Fennesz (guitar, electronics)
Recorded June 2013
This is a second release in quick succession that features drummer Thomas Strønen, the other being an album released under his own name again on ECM, Time Is A Blind Guide, and also reviewed in last month's CD Reviews. The music however, could not be more contrasting.
Food is the long term collaboration with UK saxophonist, Iain Ballamy, with the group association going back to 1998. Originally formed as a quartet playing a free flowing blend of both composed and improvised pieces, since 2006 the collaboration has been pared down to the core duo of Strønen and Ballamy often with invited guests that are brought in for special concerts. The stripped down line-up offers no compromise in the quality of the music, and whilst evolving considerably over time remains true to the aims and beliefs of the original formation.
This Is Not A Miracle is the duo's third album for ECM, and again is somewhat of a departure that paradoxically remains true to the groups core values whilst exploring new territory. If previously albums have been compiled from live recordings, the band record all their concerts, this latest release reveals a new method of working that further opens up the possibilities inherent in the music.
Retaining the atmospheric nature of much of their music, Strønen wanted to take the music further with a slightly different and more direct perspective by shifting the emphasis to a more composition based aesthetic, and took the band into the studio to work through some sketches and outlines for new music. Taking the resulting recordings away with him, Strønen worked on this music for a number of months alone, editing and recasting to produce an album unlike any of the previous ECM albums.
Whereas the live performances would allow moods to develop and evolve over a period of time, the studio based approach whilst prohibiting this natural ebb and flow cuts to the chase of the music in a manner that reveals another aspect to the groups dynamic. Whereas live the drums may pitter patter around fragments of melody from Ballamy's saxophone lines, here Strønen can drive things in a much more forceful manner as heard on 'Where Dry Desert Ends' with its driving and persistant rhythmic momentum complete with looping synth and saxophone motifs.
Elsewhere melodies are allowed to develop, not just to disappear and be swept away into a group improvisation, permitted to realise themselves fully as stand alone concepts that be retained and used in future performances, complete in themselves. 'The Concept of Density' is worked on in this manner, built around Iain's intensely lyrical tenor playing, and the delicate soprano of 'Death of Niger'. This dominance of preconceived melodic content again shines through in 'Earthly Carriage', the longest track at just under seven minutes that balances perfectly the composed and organically more freely evolved approach that is more prevalent outside of the recording studio.
A departure from previous albums that reveals that there is still much that is fresh and exciting to come from this long standing partnership, and it will be interesting to here how the band develop this new approach and material live.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
ECM 473 9039
Thomas Strønen (drums, electronics, percussion, moog, fender rhodes); Iain Ballamy (saxophones, electronics) with Christian Fennesz (guitar, electronics)
Recorded June 2013
This is a second release in quick succession that features drummer Thomas Strønen, the other being an album released under his own name again on ECM, Time Is A Blind Guide, and also reviewed in last month's CD Reviews. The music however, could not be more contrasting.
Food is the long term collaboration with UK saxophonist, Iain Ballamy, with the group association going back to 1998. Originally formed as a quartet playing a free flowing blend of both composed and improvised pieces, since 2006 the collaboration has been pared down to the core duo of Strønen and Ballamy often with invited guests that are brought in for special concerts. The stripped down line-up offers no compromise in the quality of the music, and whilst evolving considerably over time remains true to the aims and beliefs of the original formation.
This Is Not A Miracle is the duo's third album for ECM, and again is somewhat of a departure that paradoxically remains true to the groups core values whilst exploring new territory. If previously albums have been compiled from live recordings, the band record all their concerts, this latest release reveals a new method of working that further opens up the possibilities inherent in the music.
Retaining the atmospheric nature of much of their music, Strønen wanted to take the music further with a slightly different and more direct perspective by shifting the emphasis to a more composition based aesthetic, and took the band into the studio to work through some sketches and outlines for new music. Taking the resulting recordings away with him, Strønen worked on this music for a number of months alone, editing and recasting to produce an album unlike any of the previous ECM albums.
Whereas the live performances would allow moods to develop and evolve over a period of time, the studio based approach whilst prohibiting this natural ebb and flow cuts to the chase of the music in a manner that reveals another aspect to the groups dynamic. Whereas live the drums may pitter patter around fragments of melody from Ballamy's saxophone lines, here Strønen can drive things in a much more forceful manner as heard on 'Where Dry Desert Ends' with its driving and persistant rhythmic momentum complete with looping synth and saxophone motifs.
Elsewhere melodies are allowed to develop, not just to disappear and be swept away into a group improvisation, permitted to realise themselves fully as stand alone concepts that be retained and used in future performances, complete in themselves. 'The Concept of Density' is worked on in this manner, built around Iain's intensely lyrical tenor playing, and the delicate soprano of 'Death of Niger'. This dominance of preconceived melodic content again shines through in 'Earthly Carriage', the longest track at just under seven minutes that balances perfectly the composed and organically more freely evolved approach that is more prevalent outside of the recording studio.
A departure from previous albums that reveals that there is still much that is fresh and exciting to come from this long standing partnership, and it will be interesting to here how the band develop this new approach and material live.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
