MC4 - Music In Unusual Spaces
mattclarkthree.bandcamp.com
Matt Clark - guitar; Charlotte Keefe - trumpet; Ozzy Moysey - double bass; James Edmunds - drums
The title might give a clue, but Music In Unusual Spaces, the new album from a new 4tet of Matt Clark, Charlotte Keeffe, Ozzy Moysey, and James Edmunds, is a sonic exploration of sounds in urban settings, including beside a canal, a tunnel, through an open window and field recordings and jam sessions. The free improvisation develops themes that came about spontaneously to keep an atmosphere of immediacy. Clark and Edmunds were recorded in a live performance at The Bees Mouth in Hove with the microphone placed in the gap of an open window, so it captured the music and ambient street noises. Keeffe was recorded beside Camden Lock, the sounds reflecting off the water in the Regent's Canal and surrounding buildings, creating a natural delay, and Moysey was recorded in a tunnel of a street, the music imbued with the sounds of passing people, traffic, and the various echoes which emanate from the urban surroundings.
The aim was to capture the sounds and atmosphere of a city waking up: the emergence after lockdowns, the gigs on, then off again, then on, and the joy of increased freedom.
Holmes' Return is just over ten minutes of inspiring sounds. The guitar gently musing over urbanity embodied in the sonic landscape into which the music feels it has dropped. We hear traffic, a bar of humming, odd voices, and noises that cannot be placed precisely but are all familiar with if we live in a city environment. Gradually, a sense of cohesion emerges as the guitar and bass weld together a sonic coherence, into which the trumpet blasts and sighs alternately throughout the track there is a coming together - almost. It is as if the different lines of the music are drawn together but never quite meet for the first five minutes. Then, suddenly, crystallization happens. The sounds make sense, they work together, and the guitar's gaps in the motifs are filled by improvised trumpet, scraped, and arco bass with the percussion drawing it together. The seventh minute includes some beautifully timed swinging episodes before the bass and guitar respond to each other gently, tentatively, then tunefully, before the trumpet reminds us this whole thing is improvised, Keeffe placing discordant touches in exactly the right places to make them count. The final crashing crescendo feels symbolic, almost like - 'we thought it was safe.'
Inhibition Vanishes is beautiful with the guitar weaving repeated motifs under which the bass gently thrums, the percussion remains steady, the bass supports and adds it a sonorous, fluid voice at times while the trumpet - well, the trumpet is completely bonkers, but it works so well, especially when it trills across the top of the deeper, two-note bass line. The final section sees the drums lead with dynamic, thunking rhythms, which the others pick up and match.
End Of The Beginning sees an offset four-beat melody from the guitar, creating the thread the others spin around. The track weaves in and out like a sine wave of noise-some improvisation. The key
change from the guitar at the 1.20 mark feels like the invitation the other musicians need to compliment with some intriguing time changes and perceptive rhythmic challenges of their own.
Although a mix of recordings where musicians are together and apart, this album works well as a whole and is incredibly listenable. Keeffe demonstrates the essence of improvisation, and the spontaneity across the musicians is a joy to hear. Yet, they come together too in sections that work familiar rhythms and offer comfort to the listener. There is much to recommend in this album, not least the energy and drive from the music makers.
Reviewed by Sammy Stein
mattclarkthree.bandcamp.com
Matt Clark - guitar; Charlotte Keefe - trumpet; Ozzy Moysey - double bass; James Edmunds - drums
The title might give a clue, but Music In Unusual Spaces, the new album from a new 4tet of Matt Clark, Charlotte Keeffe, Ozzy Moysey, and James Edmunds, is a sonic exploration of sounds in urban settings, including beside a canal, a tunnel, through an open window and field recordings and jam sessions. The free improvisation develops themes that came about spontaneously to keep an atmosphere of immediacy. Clark and Edmunds were recorded in a live performance at The Bees Mouth in Hove with the microphone placed in the gap of an open window, so it captured the music and ambient street noises. Keeffe was recorded beside Camden Lock, the sounds reflecting off the water in the Regent's Canal and surrounding buildings, creating a natural delay, and Moysey was recorded in a tunnel of a street, the music imbued with the sounds of passing people, traffic, and the various echoes which emanate from the urban surroundings.
The aim was to capture the sounds and atmosphere of a city waking up: the emergence after lockdowns, the gigs on, then off again, then on, and the joy of increased freedom.
Holmes' Return is just over ten minutes of inspiring sounds. The guitar gently musing over urbanity embodied in the sonic landscape into which the music feels it has dropped. We hear traffic, a bar of humming, odd voices, and noises that cannot be placed precisely but are all familiar with if we live in a city environment. Gradually, a sense of cohesion emerges as the guitar and bass weld together a sonic coherence, into which the trumpet blasts and sighs alternately throughout the track there is a coming together - almost. It is as if the different lines of the music are drawn together but never quite meet for the first five minutes. Then, suddenly, crystallization happens. The sounds make sense, they work together, and the guitar's gaps in the motifs are filled by improvised trumpet, scraped, and arco bass with the percussion drawing it together. The seventh minute includes some beautifully timed swinging episodes before the bass and guitar respond to each other gently, tentatively, then tunefully, before the trumpet reminds us this whole thing is improvised, Keeffe placing discordant touches in exactly the right places to make them count. The final crashing crescendo feels symbolic, almost like - 'we thought it was safe.'
Inhibition Vanishes is beautiful with the guitar weaving repeated motifs under which the bass gently thrums, the percussion remains steady, the bass supports and adds it a sonorous, fluid voice at times while the trumpet - well, the trumpet is completely bonkers, but it works so well, especially when it trills across the top of the deeper, two-note bass line. The final section sees the drums lead with dynamic, thunking rhythms, which the others pick up and match.
End Of The Beginning sees an offset four-beat melody from the guitar, creating the thread the others spin around. The track weaves in and out like a sine wave of noise-some improvisation. The key
change from the guitar at the 1.20 mark feels like the invitation the other musicians need to compliment with some intriguing time changes and perceptive rhythmic challenges of their own.
Although a mix of recordings where musicians are together and apart, this album works well as a whole and is incredibly listenable. Keeffe demonstrates the essence of improvisation, and the spontaneity across the musicians is a joy to hear. Yet, they come together too in sections that work familiar rhythms and offer comfort to the listener. There is much to recommend in this album, not least the energy and drive from the music makers.
Reviewed by Sammy Stein
