ORCHESTRA OF THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE - Theta Four
Discus: DISCUS70CD
Martin Archer: keyboards, electronics, saxophones, clarinets, flutes, recorders, melodic; Steve Dinsdale: electronic drum kit, synth; frostlake (Jan Todd): vocals, lyrics, electronics, celtic harp, lute harp, korg wave drum, keyboards, bowed electroacoustic bass, idiopan; Yvonna Magda: violin, electronics; Walt Shaw: acoustic percussion, electronics, vocals; Terry Todd: bass, electroacoustic bass guitars; Natalie Purton: violin; Sam Parker: violin, viola; Beth Fuller-Teed: violin; Liz Hanks: cello; Juxtavoices choir and madrigal group (Julie Archer, Mick Beck, Geoff Bright, Alan Halsey, Lyn Hodnett, Geraldine Monk, Marion Rout, Jan Todd, Jane Tormey, Linda Lee Welch, Gillian Whiteley.Recorded over 2017-2018 by Martin Archer at Discus music, frostlake at FrogPond and Yvonna Magda.
This follows on from the double CD ‘Theta Three’ set and continues the Orchestra of the Upper Atmosphere’s exploration of the ways in which improvised music can be created from a live layering of a mix of styles and sounds. On this set, the sounds are not only derived from acoustic instruments but also electronic effects and the vocal improvisations of Juxtavoices.
The set begins with swelling strings and heavenly voices of a massed choir, and there is much on the set that steers the music towards the astral planes that Alice Coltrane or Sun Ra had previously charted, or recalling the ghostly sounds that crop up on early 70s Miles. Indeed, the piano chords on track 4 ‘Displacement’ have a feel pianist seeking to build on half-remembered lines from ‘In a silent way’. What also brings the sense of space so strongly into the mix is the way in which the vocal improvisations move in and out of focus. Initially, I thought this was simply a matter of the ways in which the ensemble were making use of their electronics and sound manipulation, but on closer listening you can hear that it also highlights the way that the singers control the sounds that they are producing. In addition to this exploration of space, the music also brings with it an exploration of time. For me, at least, the sense of time was quite specific and took me back to the 1980s, with the trip-hop scene of Bristol, the electro-pop scene of Sheffield and the rave scene and summer of love in 1989. Much of this sense of time comes from the post-punk bass-lines that propel several of the pieces, played by Terry Todd (from the Comsat Angels), and the mixing of these grooves with lines that veer from bubbling rave to deep dub reggae. As a set, the music combines chill-out ambient house with a foot-tapping sense of rhythm, while continually dazzling with the ways in which sounds emerge, combine and soar.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
Discus: DISCUS70CD
Martin Archer: keyboards, electronics, saxophones, clarinets, flutes, recorders, melodic; Steve Dinsdale: electronic drum kit, synth; frostlake (Jan Todd): vocals, lyrics, electronics, celtic harp, lute harp, korg wave drum, keyboards, bowed electroacoustic bass, idiopan; Yvonna Magda: violin, electronics; Walt Shaw: acoustic percussion, electronics, vocals; Terry Todd: bass, electroacoustic bass guitars; Natalie Purton: violin; Sam Parker: violin, viola; Beth Fuller-Teed: violin; Liz Hanks: cello; Juxtavoices choir and madrigal group (Julie Archer, Mick Beck, Geoff Bright, Alan Halsey, Lyn Hodnett, Geraldine Monk, Marion Rout, Jan Todd, Jane Tormey, Linda Lee Welch, Gillian Whiteley.Recorded over 2017-2018 by Martin Archer at Discus music, frostlake at FrogPond and Yvonna Magda.
This follows on from the double CD ‘Theta Three’ set and continues the Orchestra of the Upper Atmosphere’s exploration of the ways in which improvised music can be created from a live layering of a mix of styles and sounds. On this set, the sounds are not only derived from acoustic instruments but also electronic effects and the vocal improvisations of Juxtavoices.
The set begins with swelling strings and heavenly voices of a massed choir, and there is much on the set that steers the music towards the astral planes that Alice Coltrane or Sun Ra had previously charted, or recalling the ghostly sounds that crop up on early 70s Miles. Indeed, the piano chords on track 4 ‘Displacement’ have a feel pianist seeking to build on half-remembered lines from ‘In a silent way’. What also brings the sense of space so strongly into the mix is the way in which the vocal improvisations move in and out of focus. Initially, I thought this was simply a matter of the ways in which the ensemble were making use of their electronics and sound manipulation, but on closer listening you can hear that it also highlights the way that the singers control the sounds that they are producing. In addition to this exploration of space, the music also brings with it an exploration of time. For me, at least, the sense of time was quite specific and took me back to the 1980s, with the trip-hop scene of Bristol, the electro-pop scene of Sheffield and the rave scene and summer of love in 1989. Much of this sense of time comes from the post-punk bass-lines that propel several of the pieces, played by Terry Todd (from the Comsat Angels), and the mixing of these grooves with lines that veer from bubbling rave to deep dub reggae. As a set, the music combines chill-out ambient house with a foot-tapping sense of rhythm, while continually dazzling with the ways in which sounds emerge, combine and soar.
Reviewed by Chris Baber
